Based on the principle of complementary energy, an analytical method is developed which focuses on the end effects for determining thermal stress distributions in a three-layered beam. This method gives the stress distributions which completely satisfy the stress-free boundary conditions. A numerical example is given in order to verify this method. The results show that the present analytical solutions have the values of stress in excellent agreement with the solutions derived by other investigators. Using this method, the effects of the thickness of bond coat on the thermal stresses of a typical sprayed thermal barrier coating, which consists of IN738LC substrate, MCrAIY bond coat and ZrO$_2$-8wt%Y$_2$O$_3$top coat, were investigated.