A steel wire according to an aspect of the present invention includes a predetermined chemical composition, in which a wire diameter R of the steel wire is 1.0 mm to 3.5 mm, a soft portion is formed along an outer circumference of the steel wire, the Vickers hardness of the soft portion is lower than that of a position of the steel wire at a depth of of the wire diameter R by Hv 30 or higher, the thickness of the soft portion is 5 m to 0.1R mm, the metallographic structure of a center portion of the steel wire contains 95% to 100% of pearlite by area %, the average lamellar spacing of pearlite in a portion from a surface of the steel wire to a depth of 5 m is less than that of pearlite at the center of the steel wire, the difference between the average lamellar spacing of pearlite in the portion from the surface of the steel wire to the depth of 5 m and the average lamellar spacing of pearlite at the center of the steel wire is 3 nm to 60 nm, and the tensile strength is 1100 MPa or higher.

The tire has a radial carcass reinforcement, the seat diameter of which is strictly greater than 19.5 inches. The metal reinforcing elements of the at least one layer of the carcass reinforcement are layered cords which include several steel threads that have a weight content of carbon C such that 0.01%C<0.4%. The at least one carcass reinforcement layer has a breaking force per unit width of between 35 daN/mm and 75 daN/mm, and the diameter of the cords is greater than 0.7 mm.

The tire has a radial carcass reinforcement which includes at least one layer of metal reinforcing elements. The tire also has a crown reinforcement, itself capped radially with a tread. The tread is joined to two beads via two sidewalls. The metal reinforcing elements of at least one layer of the carcass reinforcement are cords include several steel threads having a weight content of carbon C such that 0.01%C<0.4%. The cords exhibit, in the permeability test, a flow rate which is strictly greater than 20 cm.sup.3/min, and the thickness of the rubber compound between the inner surface of the tire cavity and the point of a metal reinforcing element of the carcass reinforcement that is closest to the inner surface of the cavity is less than 3.2 mm.

A process for manufacturing an elongated steel element for reinforcing rubber products includes forming, on an elongated steel element, a coating of a ternary or quaternary alloy of copper-M-zinc, where M is one or two metals selected from cobalt, nickel, tin, indium, manganese, iron, bismuth and molybdenum; drawing the elongated steel element in an aqueous lubricant containing a phosphorus compound and nitrate; and twisting two or more of the elongated steel elements into a steel cord. A copper content inside the coating is 58 to 75 wt %. A content of the one or two metals inside the coating is 0.5 to 10 wt %. A final reduction in a diameter of the elongated steel element occurs during the drawing step. The phosphorus compound is present on and/or in the coating in an amount of 0.3 to 1 mg/m.sup.2 of the coating, as measured via an Inductively Coupled Plasma technique.

The steel wire of diameter d expressed in mm has a completely ferritic, pearlitic or ferritic-pearlitic microstructure and a weight content of carbon C such that 0.05%C<0.4%, a weight content of chromium Cr such that Cr<12% and a maximum tensile strength R, expressed in MPa, such that R175+930.C600.In(d) and R1500 MPa.

A steel wire has a microstructure that is completely ferritic, a mixture of ferrite and cementite or a mixture of ferrite and pearlite and has a weight content of carbon C such that C<0.05% and a weight content of chromium Cr such that Cr<12%. The process for drawing the wire comprises: at least one first uninterrupted series of steps of drawing the wire from a diameter D to a diameter d, at least one second uninterrupted series of steps of drawing the wire of diameter d to a diameter d, and one or more intermediate steps between the first and second uninterrupted series of steps of drawing the wire, the wire having a temperature less than or equal to 300 C. during the or each intermediate step.

A cobalt-free steel cord-rubber composite article includes, in sequence, a steel cord core, a steel cord coating, and a rubber layer. The steel cord coating contains from about 61 wt % to about 66 wt % copper, from about 3.5 wt % to about 6.5 wt % iron, and a balance of zinc and unavoidable impurities. The rubber layer is formed from a rubber compound including 100 phr of at least one elastomer; sulfur; about 20 phr to about 100 phr of at least one filler; about 2 phr to about 15 phr of zinc oxide; and about 0.5 phr to about 3.0 phr of at least one accelerator, containing no cobalt and no resin.

A process for drawing a steel wire, in which the wire has a carbon content by weight C of 0.4%C0.74%, includes an uninterrupted series of drawing steps. The drawing steps draw the wire from a diameter d to a diameter d, with d and d being expressed in mm, and with a true strain of the steel wire being given by =2ln(d/d), with >4.

A multi-strand cord (50) comprises an internal layer (CI) made up of K=1 internal strand (TI) having two layers (C1, C3), with the internal layer (C1) being made up of Q internal metallic threads (F1) and the external layer (C3) being made up of N external metallic threads (F3), and an external layer (CE) made up of L>1 external strands (TE) having two layers (C1, C3) wound around the internal layer (CI), with the internal layer (C1) being made up of Q internal metallic threads (F1) and the external layer (C3) being made up of N external metallic threads (F3). The cord (50) has an energy-to-break per unit area ES145 N.Math.mm.sup.1 with $ES={.Math.}_{i=1}^{Nc}{F}_{mi}{.Math.}_{i=1}^{Nc}{A}_{ti}/\mathrm{Nc}\mathrm{Cfrag}/D$
where ${.Math.}_{i=1}^{Nc}{F}_{mi}$
is the sum of the forces at break, ${.Math.}_{i=1}^{Nc}{A}_{ti}$
is the sum of the total elongation, Cfrag is the coefficient of weakening, and D is the diameter.

The present invention inexpensively provides with high productivity and good yield a steel rod superior in drawability and a steel wire superior in twistability using the same as a material, that is, draws a high strength steel rod superior in ductility where the chemical components contain C: 0.80 to 1.20%, Si: 0.1 to 1.5%, Mn: 0.1 to 1.0%, Al: 0.01% or less, Ti: 0.01% or less, one or both of W: 0.005 to 0.2% and Mo: 0.003 to 0.2%, N: 10 to 30 ppm, B: 4 to 30 ppm (of which, solute B is 3 ppm or more), and O: 10 to 40 ppm, which has a balance of Fe and unavoidable impurities, has an area percentage of pearlite structures of 97% or more, has a balance of non-pearlite structures, and has a total of the area percentage of the non-pearlite structures and the area percentage of the coarse pearlite structures of 15% or less, to obtain high strength steel wire superior in ductility having a tensile strength of 3600 MPa or more and a number density of voids of lengths of 5 m or more at the center of 100/mm.sup.2 or less.