Bainitic high-phosphorus steel with an excellent combination of strength, toughness and corrosion resistance

[Display omitted] •Strong and tough bainitic high-phosphorus steel was developed.•The phosphorus and carbon contents are 0.19 wt% and 0.016 wt%, respectively.•Phosphorus contributes 139 MPa of solid solution strengthening.•Bainitic transformation brings strengthening effect of 285 MPa. In this paper, we first demonstrate a novel alloying design strategy for the strong but tough high-phosphorus weathering steel (WS) WS by reducing carbon content and utilizing bainitic transformation. The obtained ultra-low carbon bainitic high-phosphorus (0.19 wt%) steel exhibits an excellent combination of tensile strength (820 MPa), bending toughness, and corrosion resistance. The strengthening contribution from bainitic transformation is estimated as high as 285 MPa.