Effective diffusion distance for isothermal sintering of hydroxyapatite

The microstructural evolution of hydroxyapatite (HAp) was quantified for isothermal sintering at 1100°C. The aggregated state of the powder particles is thought to be responsible for the relatively high value of the average pore separation throughout isothermal sintering. The measured grain size exponent of 6·7 is not compatible with the values expected for volume diffusion or grain boundary diffusion under the assumptions of the Combined Stage Sintering Model and hence the Master Sintering Curve. The measured exponent for a previously defined flux weighted effective diffusion distance gave a more reasonable value of 3·4. The theoretical exponent in the Combined Stage Sintering Model was then corrected to accommodate a non-linear relationship between the effective diffusion length and pore size. The results demonstrate how the effective lengthscale in the Combined Stage Sintering Model can be corrected to accommodate aggregation in the microstructure.