Adapting medium manganese steels for different wear conditions: insights from aluminum modification

The microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and wear behavior of medium manganese steels (MMSs) with varying aluminum (Al) contents were investigated. It was observed that the microstructure of MMS transferred from a predominantly martensitic phase (in the Al-free state) to a ferrite/martensite or ferrite/austenite duplex structure with increasing Al content. The hardness of MMS decreased with Al addition, while the impact absorbed energy and yield strength were optimized in 2% Al-containing variant. Frictional wear tests demonstrated that 2 wt.% Al-MMS exhibited superior wear resistance due to the twinning-induced plasticity effect. Conversely, under impact abrasion wear conditions, the Al-free MMS displayed the lowest mass loss, attributing to high surface hardness and remarkable work hardening capacity. These findings indicates that Al content-tailored MMSs can be selectively applied in different wear environments, with 2 wt.% Al-MMS being optimal for static load conditions and the Al-free MMS for dynamic impact abrasion scenarios.