Crusher liners — the fixed jaw plates, swing jaw plates, cone mantles and concave liners inside jaw and cone crushers — are the components that take the brunt of impact and abrasive wear as rock is crushed in the chamber. Ordinary carbon steel liners would deform and gouge within days. High-manganese steel and alloy-grade liners, by contrast, work-harden under impact to HB 450–550, delivering months of service in hard-rock duty. This guide covers the five crusher-liner material grades — Mn13, Mn18Cr2, Mn22Cr2Mo, chromium-molybdenum alloy steel and high-chromium white cast iron — their hardness, toughness and selection criteria, as part of our broader mining, crushing and aggregate processing wear-parts program.
What Are Crusher Liners and Why Material Matters
Crusher liners are the wear plates that line the crushing chamber of jaw crushers (PE/PEX series) and cone crushers. Material is compressed and impacted between the liner surfaces — the fixed jaw and swing jaw in a jaw crusher, the mantle and concave in a cone crusher — so the liner face simultaneously absorbs impact deformation and abrasive cutting from the feed rock. No single material is optimal for all duties: high-manganese steel work-hardens under heavy impact but wears quickly in low-impact sliding-abrasion duty; high-chromium cast iron delivers maximum hardness but shatters under high impact. The selection problem is matching the liner’s hardness, toughness and work-hardening behaviour to the specific crusher type, feed material and impact intensity.
Crusher Liner Material Grades at a Glance
| Grade | Cast hardness | Work-hardened / final | Impact toughness | Typical duty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mn13 (ZGMn13 / Сталь 110Г13Л) | HB 170–230 | HB 400+ | ≥ 80 J/cm² | Jaw/ cone liners, medium-hard rock |
| Mn18Cr2 | HB 180–260 | HB 500+ | ≥ 120 J/cm² | Granite, iron ore, high-impact |
| Mn22Cr2Mo | HB 180–260+ | HB 500+ | ≥ 120 J/cm² | Extreme impact + wear |
| Cr-Mo alloy steel | HRC 45+ | No work-hardening needed | ≥ 15 J/cm² | Medium-low impact, high abrasion |
| High-chromium white cast iron | HRC 58+ | HRC 58+ (final) | ≤ 8 J/cm² | Low impact, extreme abrasion |
Density: 7.85 g/cm³ (manganese steel). Tensile strength ≥ 750 MPa, yield strength ≥ 400 MPa, elongation ≥ 30% (Mn18Cr2 reference). Single-piece weight typically 50–500 kg depending on crusher size. Compatible with PE/PEX jaw crushers (PE-250×400 to PE-900×1200), Sandvik C series, Metso/Nordberg HP/GP series, and Terex cone crushers. Standard: ГОСТ 977-88 (steel castings).
Mn13 (ZGMn13 / Сталь 110Г13Л): Standard Hadfield Steel
Mn13 is the standard Hadfield austenitic manganese steel — the baseline grade for crusher liners processing limestone and other medium-hardness materials. In the as-cast condition it measures HB 170–230, relatively soft; but under impact in the crushing chamber, the surface work-hardens to HB 400+. This is the economic choice when feed hardness and impact intensity are moderate: the material self-hardens with use and delivers stable wear life at low cost. Its limitation is that work-hardening requires sufficient impact — in low-impact sliding-abrasion duty (such as fine-secondary crushing of soft limestone), the surface never reaches effective hardness and wear accelerates. For granite, iron ore and other hard, high-impact feed, Mn18Cr2 or Mn22Cr2Mo are required.
Mn18Cr2: High-Impact Hard-Rock Grade
Mn18Cr2 is the grade for granite, iron ore, quartzite and other hard, high-impact feed. With increased manganese and ~2% chromium, its cast hardness rises to HB 180–260 and work-hardening reaches HB 500+ — higher than Mn13’s HB 400+ ceiling. Its decisive advantage is impact toughness: ≥ 120 J/cm² versus Mn13’s ≥ 80 J/cm², a 50% improvement in resistance to impact fracture. In hard-rock crushing where the liner face is bombarded by sharp, hard rock fragments under high compressive load, this toughness margin is the difference between a liner that cracks and one that wears out gradually. Mn18Cr2 is the preferred grade for primary jaw and cone crusher liners in mines processing hard feed.
Mn22Cr2Mo: Extreme-Duty Grade
Mn22Cr2Mo is the ultra-high-manganese, chromium-molybdenum grade reserved for the most severe impact-and-wear conditions — extreme-duty primary crushing of very hard, abrasive rock. The elevated manganese (22%) with chromium and molybdenum additions pushes work-hardening capacity above HB 500 and stabilizes the austenitic structure against carbide precipitation during heat treatment. It is specified when Mn18Cr2’s performance is insufficient — typically in very large primary crushers handling oversize boulders or exceptionally abrasive ore. The trade-off is cost: the alloy surcharge over Mn18Cr2 is significant, so Mn22Cr2Mo is reserved for positions where the severity of duty truly demands it.
Chromium-Molybdenum Alloy Steel: High Initial Hardness
Cr-Mo alloy steel liners take a different approach: instead of relying on work-hardening, they are heat-treated to high initial hardness (HRC 45+) at the factory. This means effective wear resistance is available from the first hour of service, with no dependence on impact intensity to develop surface hardness. The grade is optimal for medium-low-impact, high-abrasion duty — secondary and tertiary crushing stages, or primary crushing of softer feed where high-manganese steel would never work-harden sufficiently. Its impact toughness (≥ 15 J/cm²) is lower than manganese steel but adequate for the duty it is designed for. Cr-Mo alloy steel is the rational choice when the crushing duty does not generate enough impact to activate manganese steel’s work-hardening advantage.
High-Chromium White Cast Iron: Maximum Wear Resistance
High-chromium white cast iron delivers the highest final hardness of all crusher-liner materials: HRC 58+, with wear resistance superior to any manganese steel in sliding-abrasion duty. Its elongation is ≤ 2% — it is hard but brittle. This makes it unsuitable for high-impact positions (primary crushing of large, hard rock) where impact fracture is a risk. It excels in low-impact, extreme-abrasion applications: fine-secondary and tertiary crushing stages handling abrasive feed where the dominant wear mechanism is sliding abrasion rather than impact. The material must be selected with caution — using it in a high-impact position will result in catastrophic fracture, not gradual wear.
Selection Summary by Application
- Primary jaw liners (hard rock, high impact): Mn18Cr2 — impact toughness ≥ 120 J/cm² prevents fracture, work-hardening to HB 500+.
- Primary jaw / cone liners (limestone, medium-hard): Mn13 — economical, sufficient work-hardening for moderate feed.
- Extreme-duty primary crushing (very hard/abrasive): Mn22Cr2Mo — ultra-high-manganese + Cr-Mo for the most severe conditions.
- Secondary / tertiary (low impact, high abrasion): High-chromium white cast iron — HRC 58+ for maximum sliding-abrasion wear life.
- Secondary crushing (medium impact, high abrasion): Cr-Mo alloy steel — high initial hardness without work-hardening dependence.
- Cone crusher mantles and concaves: Mn18Cr2 for hard feed, Mn13 for medium-hard — matched to the feed material and chamber position.
Heat Treatment and Quality Control
Crusher liners are produced by sand casting (for larger pieces), with a pouring temperature of 1380–1420°C. The pre-pour “double rule” — furnace-front temperature measurement plus sample-block chemistry check — ensures chemical composition meets specification before pouring. For high-manganese steel grades, the critical heat treatment is water toughening (solution treatment): the casting is heated to 1050–1100°C, held for soaking, then water-quenched to obtain a single austenitic structure. This austenitic structure is the foundation of manganese steel’s work-hardening characteristic — improper water toughening causes carbide precipitation at grain boundaries, and toughness drops sharply. Quality control includes hardness sampling (cast HB 170–260 as the factory-acceptance threshold), metallographic analysis confirming austenite purity (carbide precipitation ≤ 5% is the pass standard), and dimensional tolerance verification — all fully traceable.
Why Huasuma for Crusher Liners
Huasuma’s metal casting capability offers five crusher-liner materials — Mn13, Mn18Cr2, Mn22Cr2Mo, Cr-Mo alloy steel and high-chromium white cast iron — each with its own heat-treatment parameters. Limestone duty uses Mn13 for economy; granite duty uses Mn18Cr2 for toughness; low-impact extreme-wear duty uses high-chromium cast iron for maximum hardness. Not one alloy for all duties. The water-toughening process (1050–1100°C hold + water quench) is verified by metallographic analysis on every piece, confirming austenite purity with carbide precipitation ≤ 5% — the target is a verifiable test result, not an approximation. Pre-pour double rule, hardness sampling, metallographic analysis and dimensional tolerance verification are all completed before shipment. Compatible with PE/PEX jaw crushers, Sandvik C, Metso HP/GP and Terex machines; liners can be custom-shaped to tooth profile, thickness and mounting method. ISO 9001 throughout; GOST compliance supported; 30 years of casting export experience with multiple batches delivered to Russian, Indian and Australian mine operators; 24-hour quote response; samples available for in-service validation before bulk orders.
FAQ
What is the best material for jaw crusher liners?
For jaw crushers processing hard rock (granite, iron ore, quartzite), Mn18Cr2 is the optimum grade — its impact toughness of ≥ 120 J/cm² resists fracture and work-hardening reaches HB 500+. For medium-hard feed (limestone), Mn13 is the economical choice with sufficient work-hardening to HB 400+.
How does work-hardening affect crusher liner life?
High-manganese steel liners (Mn13, Mn18Cr2) start soft (HB 170–260) in the as-cast condition but harden to HB 400–550 under impact in the crushing chamber. The harder and more impact-intensive the feed, the higher the work-hardened surface hardness — and the longer the wear life. In low-impact duty the surface never hardens effectively, so a high-initial-hardness material (Cr-Mo alloy steel or high-chromium cast iron) is the better choice.
When should I use high-chromium cast iron liners?
High-chromium white cast iron (HRC 58+) is best for low-impact, extreme-abrasion duty — secondary and tertiary crushing stages handling abrasive feed. Its elongation is ≤ 2%, so it must not be used in high-impact positions where impact fracture is a risk.
What crusher brands are Huasuma liners compatible with?
Huasuma crusher liners are compatible with PE/PEX series jaw crushers (PE-250×400 to PE-900×1200), Sandvik C series, Metso/Nordberg HP/GP series, and Terex cone crushers. Liners can be custom-manufactured to the customer’s equipment model — tooth profile, thickness and mounting method.
Huasuma is a Chinese manufacturer of crusher liners in Mn13, Mn18Cr2, Mn22Cr2Mo, Cr-Mo alloy steel and high-chromium white cast iron for jaw and cone crushers. Liners supplied worldwide with GOST compliance and ISO 9001 certification. Request a quote or sample.
