In heavy industries such as mining, cement, and metallurgy, linings are core wear-resistant parts of crushers and ball mills, and their material properties directly affect the life and production efficiency of equipment. High manganese steel (ZGMn13) and high chromium steel (Cr20-30) are two types of mainstream lining materials, and their performance differences are significant, so they need to be selected in combination with specific working conditions.

1. Material properties and microstructure

High manganese steel has 11%-14% manganese as the core alloy element, and forms a single austenite structure through water toughening treatment, which has excellent toughness and work hardening ability. When impacted, the surface hardness can be increased from the initial 180-220HB to more than 500HB, forming a hardened layer to resist wear.

High chromium steel contains 20%-30% chromium, and elements such as molybdenum and nickel are added. After quenching + tempering, a composite structure of martensite matrix + carbide is formed, with an initial hardness of up to 58-65HRC, but low toughness (impact energy <15J).

2. Comparison of wear resistance and impact resistance

Low stress wear environment (such as fine crusher lining): High chromium steel can effectively resist abrasive cutting due to its high hardness carbides (such as Cr7C3), and its wear resistance is 3-5 times higher than that of high manganese steel, and its service life is extended by 30%-50%.

Due to its low initial hardness, high manganese steel is easily worn out quickly under non-impact conditions, and the surface hardening effect cannot be activated, resulting in premature failure.

High impact load environment (such as jaw crusher): High manganese steel forms a gradient wear-resistant layer through dynamic work hardening, which can absorb impact energy, and its fracture toughness (≥150J/cm²) is significantly better than that of high chromium steel (≤50J/cm²), avoiding liner cracking or collapse.

Due to its high brittleness, high chromium steel is prone to macro cracks and even fracture accidents under strong impact, so it is necessary to limit its use to working conditions with impact energy <5J.

3. Cost and applicable scenarios

Economic efficiency:

The raw material cost of high manganese steel is low (about 8,000-10,000 yuan/ton), and it can be repeatedly repaired and welded, with low comprehensive maintenance cost.

The unit price of high chromium steel is relatively high (12,000-15,000 yuan/ton), but it has a long wear life and is suitable for continuous production lines with large downtime losses.

Application selection:

High manganese steel lining: It is preferably used for equipment with large impact loads such as jaw crushers and impact crushers, or for processing materials containing hard inclusions (such as iron ore).

High chromium steel lining: It is suitable for low-impact, pure wear scenarios such as vertical mills and ball mills, especially for grinding highly abrasive media such as quartz sand and cement clinker.

4. Technology development trend

With the advancement of material modification technology, new composite linings (such as tungsten carbide cladding on the surface of high chromium steel) can take into account both hardness and toughness, but the cost is relatively high. In the future, lining material selection optimization based on working condition big data analysis will become the mainstream to achieve a precise balance between wear resistance and economy.

In summary, the core difference between high manganese steel and high chromium steel linings lies in the design logic of "toughness first" and "hardness first". Enterprises need to scientifically match materials according to the impact strength of equipment, material characteristics and production continuity requirements to maximize the comprehensive benefits of equipment.