Next generation wear resistant cast irons A review of multi 2026 Next Mater

Multicomponent white cast iron (MWCI) is widely used in many critical engineering machine parts such as roll materials for steel hot rolling, mineral pulverizing mills, chute liners, slurry transportation pipelines, and blast furnace components, owing to superior wear resistance. This review integrates experimental evidence on MWCI wear behaviour across compositional design, microstructural evolution, and tribological performance. A PRISMA 2020-guided systematic search was conducted (1996 – 2025) across Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Evidence was synthesized across four analytical classes: carbide morphology, carbide size, matrix properties, and testing conditions. The literature reveals that transitioning from M₇C₃-dominated to multi-carbide systems can reduce abrasive wear rates by 60 – 80%, depending on carbide type and test conditions, while carbide size governs shadow zone formation and matrix hardness controls carbide anchoring. For erosive wear, multi-carbide architectures reduced erosion by 57 – 80% relative to single-carbide counterparts under equivalent test conditions, while high-temperature oxidation protection through CoCr₂O₄ spinel formation suppressed erosion rates by up to 94.9% in specific alloy systems. Overall, MWCI wear resistance emerges from the synergistic interaction among carbide morphology, matrix composition, and thermal-oxidation control, rather than any single microstructural parameter.