Performance of a Modified Skapski Model for the Surface Tension of Liquid Metallic Elements at Their Melting-Point Temperatures

From the standpoint of materials process science, the performances of two models for melting-point surface tensions were evaluated by comparing experimental values for 60 liquid metallic elements with those calculated from these models, using a relative standard deviation as a yardstick: One is the Skapski model and the other is a modified Skapski model presented by the authors. The modified Skapski model includes a dimensionless parameter ξ _E ^1/2 characterizing the atomic states of liquid metallic elements. The inclusion of this common parameter to all liquid metallic elements usually makes a noticeable improvement over the Skapski model. With the exception of a dozen or so metallic elements, the calculated values for a large number of liquid metals on the basis of the modified Skapski model are close to experimental values, variations being in the order of ±2 to ±10 pct around the mean. In particular, the modified Skapski model performs very well for most transition and rare earth metals, with few exceptions. Calculated values for these metals fall, or almost fall, within the range of uncertainties associated with experimental measurements of these metals. Finally, it was shown that the values of the numerical factor of the respective liquid metallic elements in the modified Skapski model vary periodically with the atomic number.