Light-weight bead assembly with high-strength steel filaments

摘要

A composite bead assembly (10) comprises a number of windings of a single elongated element (12). This element (12) comprises a steel core (14) and a coating of matrix material (16) around said core. The core comprises one or more steel filaments. The steel filaments have a diameter d ranging from 0.10 mm to 0.60 mm and having a tensile strength more than 4000 - 2000 x d MPa, wherein d is the diameter expressed in mm. The bead assembly has a considerably reduced weight in comparison with existing bead assemblies with steel elements. <IMAGE>