A model that describes the ferrite - austenite transformation during contin
uous heating in Armco iron and three very low carbon, low manganese steels
with a fully ferritic initial microstructure is presented. This model allow
s calculation of the volume fractions of austenite and ferrite during trans
formation as a function of temperature, and hence knowledge of the austenit
e formation kinetics under non-isothermal conditions in fully ferritic stee
ls. Moreover, since dilatometric analysis is a technique very often used to
study phase transformations in steels, a second model, which describes the
dilatometric behaviour of the material and calculates the relative change
in length that occurs during the ferrite -austenite transformation, has als
o been developed. Both kinetics and dilatometric models have been validated
by comparison of theoretical and experimental dilatometric heating curves.
Predicted and experimental results are in satisfactory agreement.