EnglishViews: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-07-17 Origin: Site
With its work-hardening capacity, ZGMn13 austenitic high manganese steel has long served as the standard substrate for fixed jaw plates of jaw crushers. Its high toughness enables it to withstand heavy impact loads generated by bulk materials. Nevertheless, this material carries evident limitations under specific working conditions. When deployed in medium and small-sized crushers for fine crushing operations, insufficient impact energy prevents the formation of a complete hardened surface layer, leading to elevated rates of abrasive wear. When processing high-silicon and high-hardness hard rock, its service life shortens, resulting in more frequent equipment shutdowns for component replacement.
Alongside iterative advances in wear-resistant casting alloys and composite forming processes, a wide range of alternative modified materials that can directly replace conventional ZGMn13 jaw plates have been developed for fixed jaw plates. These materials cover segmented scenarios including low-to-medium impact, severe abrasion, mixed soft and hard materials, and fine sand making. This paper categorizes the alternative materials into four major groups: modified cast steel, cast iron alloys, bimetallic composite materials, and low-alloy high-strength cast steel. It conducts professional analysis on chemical composition, metallographic characteristics, process requirements, applicable working conditions and performance constraints of each material. All test data cited are derived from field measurements of mine wear-resistant castings and relevant industrial standards.
Materials in this category retain a high-manganese austenitic substrate. Performance improvements are realized by adjusting manganese content and adding alloying elements such as chromium, molybdenum, vanadium and rare earths. No substantial adjustments to casting and heat treatment procedures are required, enabling direct substitution for ZGMn13 fixed jaw plates. Two mainstream types are ultra-high manganese steel and Cr-Mo modified high manganese steel.
Mn: 17%–23%, C: 1.0%–1.3%, Cr: 1.5%–2.5%, trace microalloying additions of Mo and V, balanced with iron and impurity elements.
Compared with ZGMn13, this grade features refined austenitic grains and optimized precipitation morphology of carbides. It achieves accelerated work hardening and thicker hardened layers under identical impact loads. Water toughening treatment is performed at 1080–1120°C, followed by rapid water quenching to eliminate network carbides and preserve matrix impact toughness.
Under identical coarse crushing conditions for hard rock, its service life extends by 30%–50% relative to ZGMn13, while room-temperature impact toughness remains above 90 J/cm². It can process bulk ore lumps up to 800 mm and reduce risks of tooth chipping and cracking.
Coarse crushing of high-hardness bulk materials such as granite, basalt and high-silicon iron ore in large jaw crushers; continuous high-load production lines in open-pit mines.
Higher raw material costs than ZGMn13; minimal hardening effect under fine crushing with small feed particle sizes, which reduces economic efficiency.
Mn: 11%–14%, Cr: 1%–2.5%, minor molybdenum content, carbon controlled within 0.9%–1.1%.
Chromium dissolves into austenite to raise matrix yield strength and restrain intergranular carbide precipitation during continuous high-temperature crushing, mitigating matrix embrittlement.
A faster cooling rate is required during water toughening compared to standard ZGMn13 to avoid chromium carbide accumulation along grain boundaries.
Medium-sized jaw crushers, crushing of mixed wet and dry materials, and construction waste aggregate recycling; scenarios balancing impact resistance and mild abrasion.
Limited wear resistance improvement, only extending service life by 15%–25% versus pure ZGMn13; unsuitable for fine crushing with severe abrasion.
Medium manganese steel is an economical modified material developed for medium and small crushers with insufficient impact energy. Manganese content is drastically reduced, and wear resistance is enhanced via stress-induced martensitic phase transformation. Its application scale has expanded steadily in sand fine crushing and non-metallic mineral processing industries in recent years.
Mass fraction of manganese: 6%–9%, carbon: 0.7%–1.2%, chromium: 1%–2%; partial formulations incorporate 0.2%–0.4% molybdenum to destabilize austenite and improve sensitivity to transformation hardening.
The room-temperature matrix consists of austenite with minor ferrite. Stress generated by material extrusion and friction triggers martensitic hardened layers on the surface without heavy impact. Under identical operating conditions, its measured service life exceeds ZGMn13 by over 20%, with raw material manufacturing costs comparable to standard high manganese steel.
Medium jaw crushers processing medium-hard materials such as sandstone, medium-grade iron ore and dolomite; medium crushing production lines with feed sizes ≤ 400 mm; small and medium aggregate plants focusing on controlling replacement costs of wear components.
Complete water toughening heat treatment is mandatory; inadequate cooling tends to induce internal stress cracks. It cannot withstand intense impact from ore lumps larger than 600 mm, with risks of tooth surface collapse and edge chipping under large bulk hard rock.
Wear resistance of high-chromium cast iron relies on high-hardness M₇C₃ chromium carbides distributed in the matrix, delivering superior initial hardness compared to all manganese steel grades. It is a mainstream monolithic alternative material for conditions with moderate to low impact and severe abrasion. It is rarely used for fabricating entire fixed jaw plates, and is mostly adopted for liner plates of small fine crushing jaw crushers and sand making equipment.
Mainstream Cr20 grade: C: 2.5%–3.0%, Cr: 18%–22%, Ni: 0.6%–1.2%, Mo: 0.4%–0.8%. After quenching and tempering, its microstructure features martensitic matrix plus discontinuous network chromium carbides. The microhardness of carbides ranges from HV1300 to HV1800, and overall surface hardness reaches HRC55–65. Nickel and molybdenum improve matrix toughness and lower fracture risks.
For fine crushing of limestone and weathered rock with low impact, its service life can reach 3–5 times that of ZGMn13. However, its impact toughness only registers 12–18 J/cm², reflecting weak anti-impact capacity.
Small fine crushing jaw crushers with fixed feed sizes ≤ 150 mm processing soft materials; pre-crushing of limestone, gypsum and gangue in cement plants under low-impact production lines.
Susceptible to bulk fracture under coarse crushing with large ore lumps and heavy impact; substantial casting shrinkage complicates molding of large-size fixed jaw plates, limiting its production to small single-piece jaw plates.
Bimetallic composite casting balances high wear resistance on working surfaces and high toughness in supporting substrates. Integrated forming is realized via centrifugal compound casting, insert casting or liquid-liquid composite casting, resolving the contradictions between insufficient toughness of monolithic high-chromium cast iron and limited wear resistance of high manganese steel. It has become a primary upgrade solution for composite coarse and fine crushing of hard rock.
Working layer: Cr20–Cr26 Ni-Mo high-chromium cast iron, 40–60 mm thick, bearing material friction and abrasion;
Backing substrate: ZGMn13 high manganese steel or medium-carbon low-alloy cast steel, 30–40 mm thick, sustaining extrusion and impact loads from crushers to secure overall structural integrity.
Temperature differences between two molten metal feeds must be strictly regulated during forming to achieve metallurgical bonding at the interface and prevent spalling of the wear layer during operation. Staged heat treatment is implemented post-forming to match respective quenching-tempering parameters for high-chromium cast iron and water toughening specifications for high manganese steel.
Coarse crushing of highly abrasive hard rock including granite and quartzite, as well as steel slag in medium and large jaw crushers; integrated production lines combining coarse and fine crushing with fluctuating feed lump sizes. Field measurements at multiple mines indicate that the service life of composite fixed jaw plates is 2–3 times that of standard ZGMn13.
Intricate casting procedures raise unit production costs by 30%–50% compared with ZGMn13; thin, small-size fixed jaw plates deliver no economic advantages for composite forming processes.
Materials in this category feature quenched and tempered martensitic microstructures. Combined strengthening of hardness and toughness is achieved through synergistic effects of multi-alloy elements including chromium, nickel, molybdenum and vanadium. Stable wear resistance is obtained after factory tempering without reliance on work hardening, suitable for segmented operations with moderate impact and continuous abrasion.
C: 0.27%–0.33%, Cr: 1.0%–1.3%, Ni: 2.8%–3.2%, Mo: 0.3%–0.5%, V: 0.1%–0.2%, balanced with iron.
After quenching plus low-temperature tempering, overall hardness stands at HRC56–59, room-temperature impact energy ≥78 J, and toughness degradation under low-temperature environments is less significant than high manganese steel. Tensile strength exceeds 1250 MPa, with minimal deformation during crushing, stabilizing crushing gaps and narrowing fluctuations of discharge particle sizes.
Crushing of mixed materials containing hard particles such as metallurgical steel slag, copper and iron ore; year-round continuous operation in open-pit mines under low-temperature northern climates; aggregate production lines requiring consistent discharge particle size.
High procurement costs for nickel alloy raw materials; wear performance falls short of ultra-high modified manganese steel under extreme heavy impact conditions.
No single modified material fits all operating conditions. Material selection relies on five core dimensions: feed lump size, Mohs hardness of processed materials, impact load intensity, crusher model and overall operation and maintenance costs.
Coarse crushing of oversized hard rock with heavy impact in open-pit mines: ZGMn18Cr2 and ZGMn22 ultra-high manganese steel are preferred;
Medium-sized equipment processing medium-hard ore with controlled component costs: Mn6–Mn9 medium manganese steel;
Small crushers for fine crushing of soft materials with low impact: monolithic Cr20 high-chromium cast iron fixed jaw plates;
Integrated coarse and fine crushing of highly abrasive hard rock with continuous heavy abrasion: high-chromium/high manganese steel bimetallic composite fixed jaw plates;
Industrial waste containing hard particles and year-round low-temperature production: 30CrNi3MoV low-alloy high-strength cast steel;
General medium and small crushing operations with mixed wet and dry materials: ZGMn13Cr2 modified high manganese steel.
Each material possesses distinct performance boundaries. Modified manganese steel grades depend on impact force to develop hardened layers, delivering marginal performance gains under low-impact fine crushing. High-chromium cast iron grades suffer insufficient toughness for large lump materials. Composite materials incur higher process costs with limited economic value for low-output small production lines. Low-alloy Cr-Ni cast steel carries elevated unit procurement prices due to precious metal alloy constituents.
ZGMn13 retains stable applicability for coarse crushing scenarios with heavy impact. Nonetheless, modified high manganese steel, medium manganese steel, high-chromium cast iron, bimetallic composite materials and low-alloy wear-resistant cast steel serve as targeted alternatives for most segmented working conditions. Instead of solely referencing wear resistance metrics during material selection, manufacturing enterprises should conduct comprehensive calculations incorporating actual production line conditions, crusher specifications, labor costs for component replacement and procurement cycles of wear parts. Matching appropriate modified materials helps reduce unscheduled production shutdowns and optimize full-lifecycle costs of wear-resistant components. Continuous iterations in casting technologies within the industry, such as rare earth microalloying and gradient composite casting, will further expand the application scope of modified materials for fixed jaw plates.
