  A discrete model for the sintering of polydisperse, inhomogeneous arrays of
cylinders is presented with empirical contact force-laws, taking into account
plastic deformations, cohesion, temperature dependence (melting), and long-time
effects. Samples are prepared under constant isotropic load, and are sintered
for different sintering times. Increasing both external load and sintering time
eads to a stronger, stiffer sample after cooling down. The material behavior is
interpreted from both microscopic and macroscopic points of view.
  Among the interesting results is the observation, that the coordination
number, even though it has the tendency to increase, sometimes slightly
decreases, whereas the density continuously increases during sintering -- this
is interpreted as an indicator of reorganization effects in the packing.
Another result of this study is the finding, that strongly attractive contacts
occur during cool-down of the sample and leave a sintered block of material
with almost equally strong attractive and repulsive contact forces.
