THE EFFECT OF COLD ISOSTATIC PRESSING ON THE SINTERABILITY OF SYNTHESIZED HA
The effect of cold isostatic pressing (CIP) on the sinterability of a laboratory synthesized hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was investigated. The starting powder was initially uniaxially diepressed at about 6 kN force to form disk and rectangular green compacts. Two batches of green samples were prepared, i.e. one batch was in the as-compacted state (Un-CIP) and another batch samples was subjected to cold isostatic press at 200 MPa (CIP). The latter samples exhibited alinear shrinkage of ∼16% prior to sintering. All the samples were sintered in air at temperatures ranging from 700°C to 1400°C. The densification behaviour of HA was evaluated in terms of linear shrinkage, phase stability, bulk density, Vickers hardness and Young's modulus. The results revealed that green samples subjected to cold isostatic pressing exhibited better sinterability and possessed excellent mechanical properties. This effect is more pronounced particularly for the low temperature sintering regime i.e. < 1100°C.