An air hardenable steel alloy is disclosed comprising, in percent by weight: 0.18 to 0.26 carbon; 3.50 to 4.00 nickel; 1.60 to 2.00 chromium; 0 to 0.50 molybdenum; 0.80 to 1.20 manganese; 0.25 to 0.45 silicon; 0 to less than 0.005 titanium; 0 to less than 0.020 phosphorus; 0 up to 0.005 boron; 0 up to 0.003 sulfur; iron; and impurities. The air hardenable steel alloy has a Brinell hardness in a range of 352 HBW to 460 HBW. The air hardenable steel alloy combines high strength, medium hardness and toughness, as compared with certain known air hardenable steel alloys, and finds application in, for example, any of a steel armor, a blast-protective hull, a blast-protective V-shaped hull, a blast-protective vehicle underbelly, and a blast-protective enclosure.

A method for producing a workpiece having properties which are adjustable across a wall thickness or strip thickness of the workpiece, includes the steps of subjecting the workpiece to a decarburizing annealing treatment under an oxidizing atmosphere and to an accelerated cooling and/or a cold forming for generating a property gradient of the workpiece, wherein the workpiece is made of an austenitic lightweight steel which has an alloy composition which includes by weight percent 0.2% to 1% carbon, 0.05% to<15% aluminum, 0.05% to 6.0% silicon, 9% to<30% manganese, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of chromium, copper, boron, titanium, zirconium, vanadium and niobium, wherein chromium=4.0%; titanium+zirconium=0.7%; niobium+vanadium=0.5%, boron=1%, the remainder iron including common steel companion elements.

An aspect of the present disclosure is directed to low-alloy steels exhibiting high hardness and an advantageous level of multi-hit ballistic resistance with low or no crack propagation imparting a level of ballistic performance suitable for military armor applications. Various embodiments of the steels according to the present disclosure have hardness in excess of 550 BHN and demonstrate a high level of ballistic penetration resistance relative to conventional military specifications.

An aspect of the present disclosure is directed to low-alloy steels exhibiting high hardness and an advantageous level of multi-hit ballistic resistance with low or no crack propagation imparting a level of ballistic performance suitable for military armor applications. Various embodiments of the steels according to the present disclosure have hardness in excess of 550 BHN and demonstrate a high level of ballistic penetration resistance relative to conventional military specifications.