Abstract: Method for producing a powder-metallurgy article having at least one aperture therein; the article is produced by providing a dense, nondeformable core having a configuration corresponding to the desired configuration of the aperture in said article; the core is placed in a particle charge having a composition corresponding to that desired in the article; the position of the core within the particle charge corresponds to the desired position of the aperture within the final compacted product. The core has a coefficient of thermal expansion greater than that of said article, whereby after compacting removal of the core from the article to create the aperture is facilitated. A separating medium may be used between the core and the powder. The asembly constituting the container, core and powder is hot isostatically compacted, and upon cooling the container and core are removed from the densified article.

Abstract: A method for hot isostatically compacting powder metallurgy charges in sealed metal containers wherein the container may be easily removed from the charge after compacting by providing a separating medium between the container interior and the powder metallurgy charge to prevent bonding during subsequent hot isostatic compacting, and producing during hot isostatic compacting a residual stress in said container; slitting of the container after compacting releases the residual stresses and in the absence of bonding to the compact causes the container to move away from the compact, thereby avoiding typical container-removal operations such as machining and pickling.