Patent ID: 8498833

Claim:
A method of inspecting a stack body of at least a porous layer and a dense layer, comprising the steps of: (a) measuring at least one of the length, area, and volume of the stack body before the stack body is fired; (b) measuring at least one of the length, area, and volume of the stack body after the stack body is fired; (c) calculating with a processing unit a shrinkage rate of the stack body based on a first measured value from the step (a) and a second measured value from the step (b); (d) determining with the processing unit whether the calculated shrinkage rate of the stack body is acceptable or not based on the calculated shrinkage rate from the step (c); (e) calculating with the processing unit an S/N ratio of the stack body based on the first measured value and the second measured value; and (f) determining with the processing unit whether a current-voltage characteristic of the stack body is acceptable or not based on the calculated S/N ratio from the step (e).