Pipe Friction - Coarse Estimate

Quick estimate of friction head loss per 100 m of straight pipe for a given flow and diameter - coarse engineering first-pass before Darcy-Weisbach refinement.

Pipe frictionEstimate

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This calculator requires JavaScript to compute its result. The formula, symbols, and regulatory sources are shown in the Formula section below.

Formula, assumptions, and limits

h_f \approx 0.05 \cdot \frac{L}{D} \cdot \frac{v^2}{2g} \cdot 1.5

Symbol	Meaning	Unit
$v$	Flow velocity	m/s
$D$	Inside diameter	m

Source: Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook

In short

Quick estimate of friction head loss per 100 m of straight pipe for a given flow and diameter - coarse engineering first-pass before Darcy-Weisbach refinement.

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