Offshore reinforced concrete (RC) structures, such as bridges and high-piled wharves, are frequently subjected to the coupled action of steel corrosion and ship collision loads. However, existing studies lack systematic quantification and in-depth revelation of the synergistic degradation mechanism under this coupling effect, resulting in an insufficient scientific basis for engineering design and reinforcement. To address this gap, this study established a refined three-dimensional numerical model of drop hammer-reinforced concrete beams based on ABAQUS, comprehensively considering the strain rate effects of steel and concrete, steel–concrete bond–slip behavior, and the trilinear constitutive model of corroded steel. After validating the model’s reliability against experimental data from the existing literature, parametric simulations were conducted to investigate the coupled effects of different corrosion rates and drop heights (0.25–1.5 m). Key findings include: (1) corrosion reduces the peak impact force by 9.7–58.9% and increases the maximum mid-span displacement by 6.6–35.7%, with this effect amplified by higher drop heights; (2) shear performance degradation (16.14–35.19%) is significantly more severe than flexural performance degradation (13.28–28.93%), confirming that shear performance is more sensitive to corrosion; (3) corrosion causes cracks to propagate from a localized distribution to a global distribution, while higher drop heights accelerate structural evolution toward brittle failure; (4) the synergistic degradation law of “corrosion exacerbates impact damage, and impact amplifies corrosion defects” is revealed. By quantifying the corrosion–impact coupling effect, this study advances research in the field and provides critical technical support for damage assessment and service life prediction for offshore RC structures. In engineering practice, it is recommended that offshore structures in high-corrosion environments prioritize shear resistance enhancement and adopt targeted protective measures for high-impact-risk areas to mitigate the risk of brittle failure.
Li et al. (Mon,) studied this question.