The sintering behavior of an Al2O3 compact containing uniformly dispersed Al2O3 platelets has been investigated. The results reveal a significant decrease in the sintering rate as well as the formation of voids and cracklike defects in the presence of nonsinterable platelets. The addition of a small amount (2 vol%) of tetragonal-ZrO2 particles enhances the sintering rate, increases end-point density (approx. 99.5% of theoretical density) and prevents formation of sintering defects.