It is well known that the safety and reliability of pipeline transportation are crucial. We are aiming at the problem that the residual life and residual strength of the defective elbow pipes are difficult to predict and usually need to be obtained through experiments. Consequently, a combined method of numerical simulation technology combined with a genetic algorithm to optimize neural network extreme learning machine (GA-ELM) is proposed. Firstly, the erosion characteristics of elbow pipes with different defects under the conditions of different impurity particle flow rates, particle sizes, and mass flow rates are analyzed by numerical simulation. At the same time, the effects of erosion defects of different sizes on the equivalent stress and residual strength of elbow pipes are also studied. Based on numerical simulation data, the extreme learning machine prediction model optimized by a genetic algorithm is used to predict the erosion rate, residual life, and residual strength and compared with the traditional ELM network model. The results show that residual strength of the elbow pipes with the increase of the depth and length of the defect, and increases with the increase of the width of the defect; the GA-ELM model can not only effectively predict the erosion rate, residual life and residual strength of defective elbow pipes, moreover its prediction accuracy is better than the traditional ELM model.

Aiming to solve the problem that the residual life of defective elbows is difficult to predict and the prediction accuracy of a traditional extreme learning machine (ELM) is unsatisfactory, a genetic algorithm optimization neural network extreme learning machine method (GA-ELM) that can effectively predict erosion rate and residual life is proposed. In this method, the input weight and hidden layer node threshold of the hidden layer node is mapped to GA, and the input weight and threshold of the ELM network error is selected by GA, which improves the generalization performance of the ELM. Firstly, the effects of solid particle velocity, particle size, and mass flow rate on the erosion of elbow are studied, and the erosion rates under the conditions of point erosion defect, groove defect, and double groove erosion defect are calculated. On this basis, the optimized GA-ELM network model is used to predict the residual life of the pipelines and then compared with the traditional ELM network model. The results show that the maximum erosion rate of defect free elbow is linearly correlated with solid particle velocity, particle size, and mass flow rate; The maximum erosion rate of defective bend is higher than that of nondefective bends, and the maximum erosion rate of defective bend is linearly related to mass flow rate, but nonlinear to solid particle flow rate and particle size; the GA-ELM model can effectively predict the erosion residual life of a defective elbow. The prediction accuracy and generalization ability of the GA-ELM model are better than those of the traditional ELM model.