The present invention relates to an iron-manganese alloy for use in making parts and welds for applications where high dimensional stability under temperature variations is required, in particular at cryogenic temperature.

The alloy according to the invention is more particularly intended for use in the field of electronics, as well as in cryogenic applications.

The alloys most commonly used for such applications are iron-nickel alloys, and more particularly Invars®, generally comprising about 36% nickel. Such alloys have excellent dimensional stability properties, in particular at cryogenic temperature, but have the drawback of a relatively high production cost resulting in particular from their relatively high nickel content. In addition, the weldability of these alloys on other metals is not always entirely satisfactory, in particular in terms of the mechanical strength of the heterogeneous welds.

It is therefore sought, within the framework of the present invention, to provide an alloy suitable for the applications mentioned above, and therefore exhibiting in particular good properties at cryogenic temperature, while being less expensive than Invar®.

There are known iron-based alloys also comprising carbon and manganese sold by the Korean company Posco. These steels include, by weight:

0.35% £ C £ 0.55%

22.0% £ Mn £ 26.0%

3.0% £ Cr £ 4.0%

£ 0 If £ 0.3%

the remainder being iron and residual elements resulting from the elaboration.

However, these alloys are not entirely satisfactory.

Indeed, even if they are satisfactory from the point of view of their thermal expansion coefficient and their resilience at room temperature and at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C), the inventors of the present invention have found that they exhibited high sensitivity to hot cracking, and therefore relatively poor weldability.

Furthermore, the inventors of the present invention also observed that these steels exhibited a high sensitivity to corrosion. However, good corrosion resistance is important for the applications mentioned above, in particular in the case of thin strips, in particular in order to limit the risks of fatigue failure or stress failure of parts and structures made from these alloys. These alloys are therefore not entirely satisfactory for the applications mentioned above.

Consequently, one aim of the invention is to provide an alloy capable of being used satisfactorily to manufacture parts and welded assemblies for applications in which high dimensional stability under the effect of temperature variations is required, for example for cryogenic applications, while having a relatively low cost price.

To this end, the invention relates to an iron-manganese alloy comprising, by weight: 25.0% £ Mn £ 32.0%

7.0% £ Cr £ 14.0%

£ 0 Nor £ 2.5%

0.05% £ N £ 0.30%

£ 0.1 If £ 0.5%

optionally 0.010% £ rare earths £ 0.14%

the remainder being iron and residual elements resulting from the elaboration.

According to particular embodiments, the alloy according to the invention comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken in isolation or in any technically possible combination (s):

- The chromium content is between 8.5% and 11.5% by weight.

- The nickel content is between 0.5% and 2.5% by weight.

- The nitrogen content between 0.15% and 0.25% by weight.

- Rare earths include one or more elements chosen from: lanthanum, cerium, yttrium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium and ytterbium.

- The iron-manganese alloy as described above has an average coefficient of thermal expansion CTE between -180 ° C and 0 ° C less than or equal to 8.5.10 -6 / ° C.

- The iron-manganese alloy as described above has a Néel T Néel temperature greater than or equal to 40 ° C.

- The iron-manganese alloy as described above has, when it is produced in a thin strip with a thickness less than or equal to 3 mm, at least one of the following characteristics:

a KCV impact strength on a test piece reduced by 3 mm thick and at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C) greater than or equal to 80 J / cm 2 , and for example greater than or equal to 100 J / cm²;

- a yield strength Rp 0.2 at -196 ° C greater than or equal to 700 MPa;

- a yield strength Rp 0.2 at room temperature (20 ° C) greater than or equal to 300 MPa.

- The iron-manganese alloy as described above is austenitic at cryogenic temperature and at room temperature.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a strip made from an alloy as defined above, the method comprising the following successive steps:

- An alloy as defined above is produced;

- A semi-product of said alloy is formed;

- This semi-finished product is hot-rolled in order to obtain a hot strip;

- Optionally, the hot strip is cold rolled in one or more passes to obtain a cold strip.

The invention also relates to a strip made from an iron-manganese alloy as defined above.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a wire made from an iron-manganese alloy as defined above, the method comprising the following steps:

- supply of a semi-finished product made from an iron-manganese alloy;

- hot transformation of this semi-finished product to form an intermediate yarn; and - transformation of the intermediate wire into wire, of diameter smaller than that of the intermediate wire, said transformation comprising a drawing step.

The invention also relates to a wire made from an iron-manganese alloy as defined above.

This wire is in particular a wire for supplying material or a wire intended for the manufacture of bolts or screws, these bolts and screws being obtained in particular by cold heading from this wire.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example.

Throughout the description, the contents are given as a percentage by weight. The alloy according to the invention is an iron-manganese alloy comprising, by weight: 25.0% £ Mn £ 32.0%

7.0% £ Cr £ 14.0%

£ 0 Nor £ 2.5%

0.05% £ N £ 0.30%

£ 0.1 If £ 0.5%

optionally 0.010% £ rare earths £ 0.14%

the remainder being iron and residual elements resulting from the elaboration.

One such alloy is a high manganese austenitic steel.

The alloy according to the invention is austenitic at room temperature and at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C).

The term “residual elements resulting from the production” is understood to mean elements which are present in the raw materials used to produce the alloy or which come from the devices used for its production, and for example from refractories in furnaces. These residual elements have no metallurgical effect on the alloy.

The residual elements include in particular one or more elements chosen from: carbon (C), aluminum (Al), selenium (Se), sulfur (S), phosphorus (P), oxygen (O), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), tin (Sn), niobium (Nb), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti) and lead (Pb).

For each of the residual elements listed above, the maximum contents are preferably chosen as follows, by weight:

C £ 0.05% by weight, and preferably C £ 0.035% by weight,

Al £ 0.02% by weight, and preferably Al £ 0.005% by weight,

Se £ 0.02% by weight, and preferably Se £ 0.01% by weight, even more preferably Se £ 0.005% by weight,

S £ 0.005% by weight, and preferably S £ 0.001% by weight,

P £ 0.04% by weight, and preferably P £ 0.02% by weight,

0 £ 0.005% by weight, and preferably 0 £ 0.002% by weight,

Co, Cu, Mo £ 0.2% by weight each,

Sn, Nb, V, Ti £ 0.02% by weight each,

Pb £ 0.001% by weight.

In particular, the selenium content is limited according to the ranges mentioned above in order to avoid hot cracking problems which could result from an excessively high presence of selenium in the alloy.

The alloy according to the invention has in particular:

- an average coefficient of thermal expansion CTE between -180 ° C and 0 ° C less than or equal to 8.5.10 -6 / ° C; and

- a Néel T Néel temperature greater than or equal to 40 ° C,

and, when it is produced in a thin strip with a thickness less than or equal to 3 mm, - a KCV impact strength on a test piece reduced to 3 mm thick and at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C) greater than or equal to 80 J / cm 2 , and for example greater than or equal to 100 J / cm²;

- a yield strength Rp 0.2 at -196 ° C greater than or equal to 700 MPa; and

- a yield strength Rp 0.2 at room temperature (20 ° C) greater than or equal to 300 MPa.

Consequently, this alloy exhibits properties of thermal expansion, of resilience and of mechanical strength which are satisfactory for its use for the applications mentioned above, in particular at cryogenic temperature.

The alloy according to the invention also exhibits corrosion resistance characterized by a critical corrosion current in an H 2 SO 4 medium (2 mol.l -1 ) strictly less than 230 mA / cm 2 and a pitting potential V in NaCl medium (0.02 mol.l -1 ) strictly greater than 40 mV, the pitting potential being determined by reference to a reference potential, the hydrogen electrode (ENH). The alloy according to the invention thus exhibits corrosion resistance greater than or equal to that of Invar®-M93. It is noted in this context that Invar®-M93 is a material usually used in the context of the applications mentioned above, in particular at cryogenic temperature.

The alloy according to the invention also exhibits a corrosion resistance much greater than that observed for the earlier Fe-Mn alloys, which exhibit a critical corrosion current in an H 2 SO 4 medium (2 mol.l -1 ) greater than approximately 350mA / cm 2 and a pitting potential V less than or equal to -200 mV with respect to the hydrogen electrode (ENH).

The alloy according to the invention also exhibits satisfactory weldability, and in particular good resistance to hot cracking. In particular, as explained below, it has a crack length less than or equal to 7 mm during a Varestraint test for 3% plastic deformation. Consequently, the alloy according to the invention exhibits a resistance to cracking which is much greater than that observed for the earlier Fe-Mn alloys.

More particularly, in the alloy according to the invention, the manganese, at a content less than or equal to 32.0% by weight, makes it possible to obtain an average coefficient of thermal expansion of less than 8.5.10 -6 / ° C between -180 ° C and 0 ° C. This coefficient of thermal expansion is satisfactory for the use of the alloy in the context of the applications envisaged, and in particular in the context of cryogenic applications.

Furthermore, the manganese content greater than or equal to 25.0% by weight, combined with a chromium content less than or equal to 14.0% by weight, makes it possible to obtain good dimensional stability of the alloy at room temperature and at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C). In particular, the Néel temperature of the alloy is then strictly greater than 40 ° C., and there is no risk of being reached at the usual temperatures of use of the alloy. However, using the alloy at temperatures above Néel's temperature risks generating significant variations in

expansion of welded parts and assemblies at room temperature. Indeed, the coefficient of expansion of the high manganese steel described above is of the order of 8.10 -6 / ° C at temperatures less than or equal to the Néel temperature, while it is order of 16.10 -6 / ° C for temperatures above Néel temperature.

Chromium, at a content less than or equal to 14.0% by weight, makes it possible to obtain good KCV resilience on a reduced test piece of 3 mm thickness and at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C), and in particular a KCV resilience at -196 ° C greater than or equal to 50 J / cm². On the contrary, the inventors have observed that a chromium content strictly greater than 14.0% by weight risks resulting in too great a brittleness of the alloy at cryogenic temperature.

Furthermore, at a content greater than or equal to 7.0% by weight, chromium makes it possible to obtain good weldability of the alloy. The inventors have observed that the weldability tends to deteriorate for chromium contents strictly less than 7.0% by weight. Chromium also helps improve the corrosion resistance of the alloy.

Preferably, the chromium content is between 8.5% and 11.5% by weight. A chromium content within this range results in an even better compromise between a high Néel temperature and high corrosion resistance.

Nickel, at a content less than or equal to 2.5% by weight, makes it possible to obtain an average coefficient of thermal expansion between -180 ° C and 0 ° C less than or equal to 8.5.10-6 ° / C. This coefficient of thermal expansion is satisfactory for the use of the alloy in the context of the applications envisaged. On the contrary, the inventors have observed that the coefficient of thermal expansion risks degrading for nickel contents strictly greater than 2.5% by weight.

Preferably, the nickel content is between 0.5% and 2.5% by weight. Indeed, a nickel content greater than or equal to 0.5% by weight makes it possible to further improve the resilience of the alloy at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C.).

Nitrogen, at contents greater than or equal to 0.05% by weight, contributes to improving the resistance to corrosion. However, its content is limited to 0.30% by weight in order to maintain satisfactory weldability and resilience at cryogenic temperature (-196 ° C.).

Preferably, the nitrogen content is between 0.15% and 0.25% by weight. A nitrogen content within this range makes it possible to obtain an even better compromise between mechanical properties and corrosion resistance.

The silicon, present in the alloy at a content of between 0.1% and 0.5% by weight, acts as a deoxidizer in the alloy.

The alloy optionally comprises rare earths in a content of between 0.010% and 0.14% by weight. The rare earths are preferably chosen from yttrium (Y), cerium (Ce), lantan (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm) and ytterbium (Yb) or mixtures of one or more of these elements. According to a particular example, the rare earths comprise a mixture of cerium and lanthanum or yttrium, used alone or mixed with cerium and lanthanum.

In particular, the rare earths consist of lanthanum and / or yttrium, the sum of the lanthanum and yttrium contents being between 0.010% and 0.14% by weight.

As a variant, the rare earths consist of cerium, the cerium content being between 0.010% and 0.14% by weight.

As a variant, the rare earths consist of a mixture of lanthanum, yttrium, neodymium and praseodymium, the sum of the lanthanum, yttrium, neodymium and praseodymium contents being between 0.010% and 0.14% by weight. In this case, the rare earths are added, for example in the form of Mischmetal, in a content of between 0.010% and 0.14% by weight. Mischmetal contains lanthanum, yttrium, neodymium and praseodymium in the following proportions: Ce: 50%, La: 25%, Nd: 20% and Pr: 5%.

The presence of rare earths, and more particularly of a mixture of cerium and lanthanum or yttrium, at the contents mentioned above makes it possible to obtain an alloy having very good resistance to hot cracking, and consequently , further improved weldability.

By way of example, the rare earth content is between 150 ppm and 800 ppm.

The alloy according to the invention can be produced by any suitable method known to those skilled in the art.

By way of example, it is produced in an electric arc furnace, then is refined in a ladle by the usual methods (decarburization, deoxidation and desulfurization), which can in particular comprise a step of placing under reduced pressure. As a variant, the alloy according to the invention is produced in a vacuum oven from raw materials with low residuals.

Hot or cold strips are then produced, for example, from the alloy thus produced.

By way of example, the following process is used to manufacture such hot or cold strips.

The alloy is cast in the form of semi-finished products such as ingots, reflow electrodes, slabs, in particular thin slabs with a thickness of less than 200 mm, in particular obtained by continuous casting, or billets.

When the alloy is cast in the form of a reflow electrode, the latter is advantageously remelted under vacuum or in an electrically conductive slag in order to obtain better purity and more homogeneous semi-products.

The semi-finished product thus obtained is then hot rolled at a temperature between 950 ° C. and 1220 ° C. to obtain a hot strip.

The thickness of the hot strip is in particular between 2 mm and 6.5 mm. According to one embodiment, the hot rolling is preceded by a chemical homogenization heat treatment at a temperature between 950 ° C and 1220 ° C for a period of between 30 minutes to 24 hours. The chemical homogenization process is carried out in particular on the slab, in particular the thin slab.

The hot strip is cooled to room temperature to form a cooled strip and then wound up into coils.

Optionally, the cooled strip is then cold rolled to obtain a cold strip having a final thickness advantageously between 0.5 mm and 2 mm. Cold rolling is carried out in one pass or in several successive passes.

At the final thickness, the cold strip is, optionally, subjected to a recrystallization heat treatment in a static oven for a period ranging from 10 minutes to several hours and at a temperature above 700 ° C. As a variant, it is subjected to a recrystallization heat treatment in a continuous annealing furnace for a period ranging from a few seconds to approximately 1 minute, at a temperature above 900 ° C. in the holding zone of the furnace, and under a protected atmosphere. type N2 / H2 (30% / 70%) with a frost temperature between -50 ° C and -15 ° C. The frost temperature defines the partial pressure of water vapor contained in the heat treatment atmosphere.

A recrystallization heat treatment can be carried out, under the same conditions, during cold rolling, at an intermediate thickness between the initial thickness (corresponding to the thickness of the hot strip) and the final thickness. The intermediate thickness is for example chosen equal to 1.5 mm when the final thickness of the cold strip is 0.7 mm.

The method for developing the alloy and for manufacturing hot and cold strips of this alloy are given only by way of example.

All other methods for producing the alloy according to the invention and for manufacturing finished products made from this alloy known to those skilled in the art can be used for this purpose.

The invention also relates to a strip, and in particular a hot or cold strip, made from the alloy as described above.

In particular, the strip has a thickness less than or equal to 6.5 mm, and preferably less than or equal to 3 mm.

Such a strip is for example a cold strip produced by the process described above or a hot strip obtained at the end of the hot rolling step of the process described above.

The invention also relates to a wire made from the alloy described above.

More particularly, the wire is a wire for filler material intended to be used to weld parts together.

As a variant, the wire intended is for the manufacture of bolts or screws, these bolts and screws being obtained in particular by cold heading from this wire.

By way of example, such a yarn is manufactured by implementing a method comprising the following steps:

- supply of a semi-finished product made from an alloy as described above; - hot transformation of this semi-finished product to form an intermediate yarn; and - transformation of the intermediate wire into wire, of diameter smaller than that of the intermediate wire, said transformation comprising a drawing step.

The semi-finished product is in particular an ingot or a billet.

These semi-finished products are preferably transformed by hot transformation between 1050 ° C and 1220 ° C to form the intermediate yarn.

In particular, during this hot transformation step, the semi-finished products, that is to say in particular the ingots or billets, are hot transformed so as to reduce their section, by giving them, for example, a square section, about 100mm to 200mm square. This gives a semi-finished product with a reduced section. The length of this semi-finished product of reduced section is in particular between 10 meters and 20 meters. Advantageously, the reduction of the section of the semi-finished products is carried out by one or more successive hot rolling passes.

The semi-finished products of reduced cross-section are then again hot-processed to obtain the yarn. The wire can in particular be a machine wire. It has for example a diameter of between 5mm and 21mm, and in particular approximately equal to 5.5mm. Advantageously, during this step, the wire is produced by hot rolling on a wire train.

Testing

The inventors have produced laboratory castings of alloys exhibiting compositions as defined above, as well as comparative alloys, exhibiting compositions different from the composition described above.

These alloys were produced under vacuum, then hot-processed by rolling to obtain strips 35 mm wide and 4 mm thick.

These bands were then machined to obtain a surface devoid of hot oxidation.

The alloy compositions of each of the strips tested are set out in Table 1 below.

The inventors carried out Varestraint tests on the strips obtained according to the European standard FD CEN ISO / TR 17641-3 under 3.2% plastic deformation in order to evaluate their resistance to hot cracking. They measured the total length of cracks developed during the test, and classified the bands into three categories:

- strips showing, at the end of the test, a total crack length less than or equal to 2 mm were considered to have excellent resistance to hot cracking,

- strips showing, at the end of the test, a total crack length of between 2 mm and 7 mm were considered to have good resistance to hot cracking, while

- strips with a total crack length strictly greater than 7 mm were considered to have insufficient hot cracking resistance.

The results of these tests are set out in the column entitled “Varestraint tests” in Table 1 below. In this column, we noted:

- "1": the bands having excellent resistance to hot cracking; - "2": the bands having good resistance to hot cracking;

- "3": the bands having insufficient resistance to hot cracking. The resistance to hot cracking constitutes an important aspect of the weldability of an alloy, the weldability being all the better as the resistance to cracking is important.

The inventors also tested the corrosion resistance by carrying out potentiometric tests. To this end, they carried out the following tests:

- evaluation of generalized corrosion by measuring the critical corrosion current J steel Mn in H 2 SO 4 medium (2 mol.l -1 ) and comparison of this current with that measured for strips in Invar®-M93 (J Invar M93 ~ 230mA / cm 2 );

- evaluation of localized corrosion by measuring the pitting potential V in NaCl medium (0.02 mol.l -1 ) and comparison of this potential V with that of Invar®-M93 (V Invar M93 / E ENH ~ 40mV ), where E ENH is the reference potential with respect to the hydrogen electrode.

It is recalled that Invar®-M93 has the following composition, in percentage by weight:

35% £ Nor £ 36.5%

0.2% £ Mn £ 0.4%

C £ 0.02 £ 0.04%

£ 0.15 If £ 0.25%

optionally

£ 0 Co £ 20%

£ 0 Ti £ 0.5%

0.01% £ Cr £ 0.5%

the remainder being iron and residual elements resulting from the elaboration.

If J steel Mn V Invar M93 / E ENH , the steel tested is judged to be more resistant to corrosion than Invar M93.

If J steel Mn > J Invar M93 or V steel Mn / E ENH Invar" corresponds to bands for which J steel Mn V Invar M93 / E ENH ;

- the term " J Invar M93 or V steel Mn / E ENH Invar 120 88 8,5 710 6 Bal> Invar 122 72 8.4 740 7 Bal Invar 125 62 8.3 760 9 Bal> Invar <50 52 8.3 1220 10 Bal> Invar 120 42 8.3 815 11 Bal> Invar <50 <40 9 , 2 1260 12 Bal> Invar 120 75 7.7 880 13 Bal> Invar ndnd 8.8 875 14 Bal> Invar 115 <40 8.1 690 15 Bal> Invar 122 51 8.3 815 16 Bal> Invar 95 61 8 , 3 880 17 Bal> Invar 105 70 8.4 1020 18 Bal> Invar 95 72 8.4 990 19 Bal> Invar 100 63 8.3 1010 20 Bal> Invar 105 64 8.4 980 21 Bal> Invar 85 63 8 , 3 1000 ts of tests

In Table 1 above, “nd” means that the value considered has not been determined.

Furthermore, the tests in accordance with the invention have been underlined.

In this table :

- for the elements C, Al, Se, S, P, O, "mini" means:

C <0.05% by weight,

Al <0.02% by weight,

Se <0.001% by weight,

S <0.005% by weight,

P <0.04% by weight,

O <0.002% by weight,

- elements noted as “Other” include Co, Cu, Mo, Sn, Nb, V, Ti and Pb, and, in this column, “mini” means:

- Co, Cu, Mo <0.2% by weight,

- Sn, Nb, V, Ti <0.02% by weight, and

- Pb <0.001% by weight.

For nitrogen, "mini" means N <0.03% by weight. At these levels, nitrogen is considered to be a residual element.

For the rare earths, namely Ce, La and Y, “mini” means that the alloy comprises at most traces of these elements, preferably a content of each of these elements less than or equal to 1 ppm.

The tests numbered 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 to 17, 19 and 20 are in accordance with the invention. It is noted that the bands produced according to these tests exhibit good, or even excellent, resistance to hot cracking (cf. Varestraint test column), and therefore exhibit good weldability.

In addition, these bands have a corrosion resistance greater than or equal to that of Invar M93, an average coefficient of thermal expansion CTE between -180 ° C and 0 ° C less than or equal to 8.5.10 -6 / ° C , a Néel temperature greater than or equal to 40 ° C, a KCV impact strength at -196 ° C greater than or equal to 80 J / cm² and a yield strength Rp 0.2 at -196 ° C greater than or equal to 700 MPa .

The bands produced in the alloy according to the invention therefore exhibit properties of thermal expansion, of resilience and of mechanical strength which are satisfactory for their use for applications for which high dimensional stability under the effect of temperature variations is required, in particular. at cryogenic temperature.

The alloys according to the tests numbered 1 to 5 have a chromium content strictly less than 7.0% by weight. It is observed that the corresponding strips exhibit poor resistance to hot cracking, and therefore unsatisfactory weldability. Moreover, tests 1 and 3 show that this poor resistance to hot cracking is not compensated for by the addition of carbon, even at relatively high contents.

The alloy according to test 11 has a chromium content strictly greater than 14.0% by weight. It is observed that the corresponding bands exhibit significant brittleness at cryogenic temperature, resulting in a KCV resilience strictly less than 50 J / cm². It is also observed that this alloy has a Néel temperature strictly below 40 ° C.

The alloy according to test numbered 13 has a nickel content strictly greater than 2.5% by weight. It is observed that the corresponding bands exhibit an average coefficient of thermal expansion CTE between -180 ° C and 0 ° C strictly greater than 8.5.10 -6 / ° C.

The comparison of tests 7 and 8 shows that, all other things being equal, the increase in the nitrogen content makes it possible to improve the resistance to corrosion. Furthermore, the alloy according to test numbered 9 exhibits a nitrogen content strictly greater than 0.30% by weight, and it is observed that it exhibits degraded weldability and KCV resilience at -196 ° C.

Moreover, as shown by the comparison of tests 14 and 15, the decrease in the manganese content, all other things being equal, results in a decrease in the Néel temperature.

It is also observed that the bands corresponding to tests 14, 17, 19 and 20, which comprise rare earths in proportions of between 0.010% and 0.14% by weight, exhibit excellent resistance to hot cracking, with lengths of cracks less than 2 mm. On the contrary, the bands corresponding to tests 18 and 21 have a rare earth content strictly greater than 0.14% by weight, and it is observed that these bands have degraded weldability.

The mechanical strength of a homogeneous weld between two parts made of iron-manganese alloy according to the invention or of a heterogeneous weld between a part made of iron-manganese alloy according to the invention and a part made of a different alloy, and in particular in 304L stainless steel and in Invar® M93, was investigated by tensile tests. These tests were carried out using the alloy according to Example 16 of Table 1 as the iron-manganese alloy.

More particularly, homogeneous welds were produced by butt-welding together two coupons taken from a strip made of the iron-manganese alloy according to Example 16 of Table 1. Heterogeneous welds were also made by welding by welding. end to end, a coupon taken from a strip made from the alloy according to Example 16 of Table 1 to a coupon taken from a strip made from Invar® M93 or from a coupon taken from a strip made from 304L stainless steel.

In addition, for comparison purposes, homogeneous welds were carried out by butt-welding together two coupons taken from strips made of Invar® M93 and heterogeneous welds by butt-welding together a coupon taken from a strip made of Invar® M93 and a coupon taken from a strip made of 304L stainless steel.

The results are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Results of tensile tests

The tensile tests were carried out at room temperature as is customary for the welding qualification tests.

These tests show that the alloy according to the invention has satisfactory weldability with stainless steel and Invar®.

The alloy according to the invention can be advantageously used in any application in which good dimensional stability, associated with good corrosion resistance and good weldability are desired, in particular in the cryogenic field or in the field of electronics. .

Taking into account their properties, the alloys according to the invention can be advantageously used for the manufacture of welded assemblies intended for applications in which a high dimensional stability under the effect of temperature variations is required, in particular at cryogenic temperature.

WE CLAIMS

1.- Iron-manganese alloy comprising, by weight:

25.0% £ Mn £ 32.0%

7.0% £ Cr £ 14.0%

£ 0 Nor £ 2.5%

0.05% £ N £ 0.30%

£ 0.1 If £ 0.5%

optionally 0.010% £ rare earths £ 0.14%

the remainder being iron and residual elements resulting from the elaboration.

2.- The alloy of claim 1, wherein the chromium content is between 8.5% and 11.5% by weight.

3.- Alloy according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the nickel content is between 0.5% and 2.5% by weight.

4. An alloy according to any preceding claim, wherein the nitrogen content of between 0.15% and 0.25% by weight.

5.- Alloy according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the rare earths comprise one or more elements chosen from: lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), yttrium (Y), praseodymium (Pr) , neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm) and ytterbium (Yb).

6. A method of manufacturing a strip made of an iron-manganese alloy according to any one of the preceding claims, the method comprising the following successive steps:

- An alloy according to any one of the preceding claims is produced;

- A semi-product of said alloy is formed;

- This semi-finished product is hot-rolled in order to obtain a hot strip;

- optionally, the hot strip is cold rolled in one or more passes to obtain a cold strip.

7. A strip made of an iron-manganese alloy according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. A method of manufacturing a wire made from an iron-manganese alloy according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the method comprising the following steps:

- Supply of a semi-finished product made from an iron-manganese alloy according to any one of claims 1 to 5;

- hot transformation of this semi-finished product to form an intermediate yarn; and 8

- Transformation of the intermediate wire into wire, of diameter smaller than that of the intermediate wire, said transformation comprising a drawing step.

9. A wire made from an iron-manganese alloy according to any one of claims 1 to 5.