Steel wire and method of manufacturing the same

A method of manufacturing a steel wire comprising the steps of:

• cold-working a steel material of pearlite structure containing 0.7-1.0 mass % of C and 0.5-1.5 mass % of Si, so that the resultant steel wire has a lattice constant a1 and lattice distortion ΔaLS1 satisfying the following formula (1) after the cold-working process:
• 0.0025 ×a1≦ΔaLS1≦0.0045×a1;
• (1)
• and
• heat-treating the resultant steel wire, so that the lattice constant a2 and the lattice distortion ΔaLS2 thereof satisfy the following formula (2):
• 0.001 ×a2≦ΔaLS2≦0.002×a2;
• (2)
• wherein
• said steel wire is produced without applying a quenching and tempering process;
• a reduction in area is limited in the range of 18 to 15% per one pass of cold-working;
• the lattice constant a1 is in the range of 2.8670 to 2.8710 Å;
• and
• the lattice constant a2 is in the range of 2.8670 to 2.8705 Å.