We have made a theoretical study of the bend strength of flat, multilayered alumina-zirconia composites. We used the linear theory of elasticity to calculate the stresses in materials subjected to a three-point bending test, including the thermal residual stresses that result from the fabrication process. We studied symmetrically and non-symmetrically layered composites with a variable number of layers, with the focus on the optimization of individual layer thicknesses to get the highest composite strength. Using typical strength data for particulate composites from the literature, we found that it is sensible to optimize the composite with up to seven layers as taking even more layers does not further improve the composite strength significantly. Furthermore, there is a qualitative difference in the total stress distribution through the sample thickness in the case of optimized and non-optimized structure, respectively.