Abstract: A new type of TiC- containing martensitic steel Ti60 and another type of commercial martensitic steel JFE400 without carbide were used as the research objects. The effect of TiC hard phase on the abrasive wear performance and its mechanism of a low alloy martensitic steel were studied using three-body abrasive wear tester under the condition of pure coal powder and 40% quartz sand doped with pure coal powder as the abrasive. The results showed that the wear volume of Ti60 steel was greater than that of JFE400 steel in the pure coal powder environment. However, the wear volume of Ti60 steel was lower than JFE400 steel under the condition of coal powder doped with 40% quartz sand. According to the surface morphology of the worn marks, the above results were caused by the combined action of the following aspects. Firstly, the wear mechanism of materials in both environments mainly was microploughing wear. Secondly, due to the layered structure and low hardness of coal powder particles, TiC hard phase did not play an obstacle role with its ploughing behavior, while the ploughing behavior of massive structure quartz sand particles with high hardness were hindered by TiC hard phase. Therefore, JFE400 steel with a relatively large matrix hardness showed better wear performance compared with Ti60 steel with a relatively small matrix hardness in the pure coal powder environment. However, Ti60 steel had better wear resistance than JFE400 steel under the condition of coal powder doped with 40% quartz sand.