The purpose of this work is to evaluate the densification behaviour of magnesium orthosilicate-hydroxyapatite (MO-HA) composite. The composite was prepared in various compositions, by varying the magnesium orthosilicate content from 10 wt% to 50 wt% via mechanical ball milling and conventional pressureless sintering at 1000 oC to 1300 oC, using a ramp rate of 10 oC/minute for 2 hrs. The study revealed that a secondary phase formation was found in all the sintered. In general, the MOHA composites exhibited lower mechanical properties across all the composition investigated. However, a high fracture toughness of 2.5MPam1/2 was recorded for hydroxyapatite containing 20 wt% magnesium orthosilicate addition which indicated the potential of this composite to be used for load bearing biomedical applications.

Keywords: Ceramic composite, Hydroxyapatite-Magnesium Orthosilicate Composite, Pressureless Sintering, Mechanical Properties