Open Access

ARTICLE

Efficient Structural Reliability Analysis via Adaptive Hidden Neuron Screening in Extreme Learning Machines

Yunlong Teng¹, Ying Liu², Jianhong Liang¹, Jinshang Luo^3,*

1 School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu, China
2 School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
3 Information Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China

* Corresponding Author: Jinshang Luo. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Machine Learning-Assisted Structural Integrity Assessment and Design Optimization under Uncertainty)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2026, 147(3), 12 https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2026.082594

Received 18 March 2026; Accepted 02 May 2026; Issue published 30 June 2026

Abstract

Over the past decades, surrogate model-aided reliability analysis approaches grounded in active learning have undergone extensive development. However, Gaussian process models like Kriging suffer from severe computational burdens when handling high-dimensional problems or large samples. Conversely, machine learning algorithms such as extreme learning machines exhibit high computational efficiency but lack variance output and stability, making them difficult to employ for adaptive active learning strategies. To address these limitations, this study proposes a population Monte Carlo method based on an adaptive closed neuron extreme learning machine. First, a closed neuron strategy uses a consistency metric to screen and retain neurons containing the most informative features. This preserves the fast analytical solution advantage of extreme learning machines while significantly improving the reconstruction accuracy and stability of the true limit state surface. Second, to overcome the lack of variance in the output, an ensemble model is constructed. By calculating predictive mean and standard deviation, a learning function is formulated for efficient adaptive sample enrichment. Finally, utilizing the adaptive importance sampling mechanism of the population Monte Carlo framework, the auxiliary density function is optimized to progressively shift the sampling center toward high contribution failure regions. Four engineering examples confirm that the proposed method achieves exceptional computational efficiency and high accuracy for complex reliability analysis involving extremely small failure probabilities.

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Keywords

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