Most steels contain 0.15 to 0.8% manganese. High strength alloys often contain 1 to 1.8% manganese.[3][4][5] At about 1.5% manganese content, the steel becomes brittle, and this trait increases until about 4 to 5% manganese content is reached. At this point, the steel will pulverize at the strike of a hammer. Further increase in the manganese content will increase both hardness and ductility. At around 10% manganese content the steel will remain in its austenite form at room temperature if cooled correctly.[6] Both hardness and ductility reach their highest points around 12%, depending on other alloying agents.[1] The primary of these alloying agents is carbon, because the addition of manganese to low-carbon steel has little effect, but increases dramatically with increasing carbon content. The original Hadfield steel contained about 1.0% carbon. Other alloying agents may include metals like nickel and chromium; added most often to austenitic steels as an austenite stabilizer; molybdenum and vanadium; used in non-austenitic steels as a ferrite stabilizer; or even non-metallic elements such as silicon. [4]
Mangalloy has fair yield strength but very high tensile strength, typically anywhere between 350 and 900 megapascals (MPa), which rises rapidly as it work hardens. Unlike other forms of steel, when stretched to the breaking point, the material does not "neck down" (get smaller at the weakest point) and then tear apart. Instead, the metal necks and work hardens, increasing the tensile strength to very high levels, sometimes as high as 2000 MPa. This causes the adjacent
