Process for the powder-metallurgical production of a workpiece

A process for the powder-metallurgical production of a workpiece, utilizing a sintering process in which a powder or powder mixture is first filled into a mold and mechanically precompacted by tapping, jolting or vibration, which comprises presintering the precompacted powder in a first phase for 1/2 hour to 1 hour at a comparatively low temperature, which is in the range from 0.65 to 0.85 times the absolute melting temperature of the material to be used for the workpiece, in such a way that the individual powder particles are mutually joined only at their contact points by necking without significant shrinkage, carefully removing the formed body presintered in this way from the mold or destroying the latter, and finally finish-sintering the formed body in the freely self-supporting state for at least 1 hour up to a density of at least 90% of the theoretical value at an increased temperature which is at least 0.9 times the absolute melting temperature.