Reference Request: Understanding Metal Melting

JamesO

Apologies in advance for the abstract nature of this question; I don't know enough about this field to be more detailed. I'm trying to understand the behavior of metal when heat is applied to it. I'd like to be able to answer such questions as: how fast does the metal melt? what is the effect on the parts of the metal where heat is not being applied? what is the effect on the environment surrounding the metal? In particular I'm interested computational modeling of this process. Please feel free to link me to advanced material, as I will attempt to fill in the gaps in my knowledge by consulting the standard reference material.

Thanks a lot,

James