Hydraulic diameter of circular duct

The Hydraulic Diameter of a Circular Duct calculator computes the hydraulic diameter of a circular duct based on the radius (r) of the duct.

INSTRUCTION: Choose units and enter the following:

• (r) This is the radius of the duct.

Hydraulic Diameter (D_H): The diameter is returned in meters.  However, this can be automatically converted to compatible units via the pull-down menu.

The Math / Science

Hydraulic diameter of circular duct

        dh = 2•r        

where:

• dh is the hydraulic diameter of a circular duct 
• r is the pipe or duct radius

A hydraulic diameter is useful for dimensionless quantities (e.g.  Reynolds number or Gauckler-Manning Equation) which employ a single variable for flow analysis.

Hydraulic diameter is mainly used for calculations involving turbulent flow. Secondary flows can be observed in non-circular ducts as a result of turbulent shear stress in the turbulent flow. Hydraulic diameter is also used in calculation of heat transfer in internal-flow problems.