Retained austenite contributes to work hardening under field applications (Q), field wear tests (12) and
laboratory conditions (13). The greater the retained austenite volume the greater the increase of hardness
after wear (12,13). The surface hardening due to retained austenite can ba attributed to: a) work hardening -
multiplication and entanglement of dislocations, b) repetitive twinning, as in Hadfield steels (Q), c) E
martensite formation (14) and, d) a’ martensite formation (14).