Patent ID: 8790790

Claim:
A steel wire having a stainless steel exterior, the steel wire comprising: a core region, a bonding region and a stainless steel region; the core region metallurgically bonded to the stainless steel region by the bonding region; the core region comprising at least 55 wt. % iron; the stainless steel region having a thickness of about 5 μm to about 250 μm, having a stainless steel composition, and including the stainless steel exterior, the stainless steel composition comprising an admixture of iron and chromium, and the stainless steel composition comprising a chromium concentration of about 10 wt. % to about 30 wt. % that varies by less than 5 wt. %; and the bonding region positioned between the stainless steel region and the core region, having a thickness that is greater than 5 μm and less than the thickness of the stainless steel region, and having a bonding composition, the bonding region further having a chromium concentration gradient that decreases from a chromium concentration, proximal to the stainless steel region, that is approximately equal to the chromium concentration of the stainless steel region, to a chromium concentration, proximal to the core region, that is approximately equal to the chromium concentration of the core region.