The columnar and equiaxed growth of low-melting point binary alloys (Pb-Sn) was studied in a wide range of concentrations. From temperature measurements a number of important dynamic parameters were derived, such as cooling rates, profiles, gradients and the position and velocity of liquidus and solidus fronts. These parameters were correlated with the structure-like length of columnar grains and size of equiaxed grains. These correlations were used to predict the solidification structure with the aid of a thermal model of solidification. An original feature of the thermal model is the way the latent heat is calculated and released. The nucleation and growth of equiaxed grains is assumed to follow the supercooling from the liquidus temperature. The main observation from the model is the high number of equiaxed grains, which compete with the columnar growth in the transition. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.