<p>The swirling flow which is greatly applied in the industrial field has a significant effect on the erosion behavior of the elbow, but the influence law and influence degree of the relevant parameters on the elbow erosion under the swirling flow condition are not clear. In this work, the influence of a range of factors on elbow erosion in the case of liquid–solid swirling flow was studied by means of numerical simulation and the influence mechanism of liquid–solid swirling flow on the elbow erosion was revealed. It is found that the maximum erosion rate of elbow increases with the increase of twist ratio, flow velocity, particle concentration and particle size, and decreases with the increase of mean curvature radius/pipe diameter (<i>R</i>/<i>D</i>) ratio, pipe diameter and fluid viscosity. When the twist ratio is 6.2, the best twisted tape installation position is 4D (100&#xa0;mm) from the elbow inlet, where the erosion reduction effect is the most significant. The influence degree of each factor on the erosion rate is obtained, among which the fluid viscosity is the most influential factor, and the effect of swirling flow on the flow characteristics and fluid velocity distribution at the elbow decreases with the increase of viscosity. The multi-factor prediction model of maximum erosion rate based on grey correlation analysis and data fitting method under the condition of liquid–solid swirling flow was established and verified by the erosion experimental data. The research results provide a theoretical basis for further studying the erosion behavior of liquid–solid swirling flow.</p>