In general, do transition metals or main group elements tend to have higher melting points? According to a article, the FeCoNi alloy tended to have a uniform structure when only Fe, Co, and Ni were included. With Al and Si, however, it had more segregation in its structure. How can the researchers speculate that the melting points of the elements affected the microstructures formed as the alloy solidified?
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I think the m.p. of group I and group II elements are lower than the transition metals. As for the second part, I don't know unless metals with m.p. close together tend to solidify at one time while those of widely different m.p. might segregate during cooling. The Fe, Co, Ni metals are within about 80 degree range whereas the Al/Si mixture is separated by about 800 C.
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