GASCalc™ 5.

0 Calculation Reference
Pipe Hydraulic Diameter
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Background Information
Equations
Example Calculation
General Calculation Procedures
Notes & Considerations
Screen Description
See Also

General Calculation Procedures

To calculate the various values associated with the pipe hydraulic diameter calculation, complete the following steps:

! Select the Hydraulic Diameter menu item from the Pipe menu list. The Pipe Hydraulic Diameter
calculation screen will be displayed.

! Select the Clear command button to set all of the values to an empty (null) value.

! Select an appropriate method from the Calculation Method data list.

! Click on the red label associated with the item to be calculated (the unknown) until the label is underlined.

! Select the desired dimensional units for all of the data items.

! Enter a value for all known data items.

! Select the Calculate command button.

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Example Calculation

Calculate the inside diameter value associated with an average outside diameter value of 6.625 Inches [170
Millimeter], for a polyethylene pipe with a dimension ratio of 11.5 using the Plastic Pipe Institute DR based method.

To perform the calculation, complete the following steps.

! Select the Hydraulic Diameter menu item from the Pipe menu list. The Pipe Hydraulic Diameter
calculation screen will be displayed.

! Select the Clear command button.

! From the Calculation Method list, select PPI Outside Diameter Controlled Pipe Using DR.

! In the Pipe Data section:

! Click on the Inside Diameter label until it is underlined.

! For the Average Outside Diameter, enter 6.625 Inches [170 Millimeter].

! For the Dimension Ratio, enter 11.5.

! Select the Calculate command button.

Results - The results should be similar to the following:

Inside Diameter: 5.404 Inches [138.661 Millimeter]

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Screen Description

The various values associated with the hydraulic or inside diameter of a pipe segment may be calculated using the
Pipe Hydraulic Diameter calculation routine. To perform a calculation, select the Hydraulic Diameter menu item
from the Pipe menu list. The Pipe Hydraulic Diameter calculation screen will be displayed. The features associated
with the screen are described as follows.

Data Items

Average Outside Diameter - A data list used to enter, select, or display the average outside diameter of the pipe
segment. If the value is known, either select an item from the list, enter a value by typing it into the data field., or
select the ? command button to select a size using the Pipe Selection screen. Ensure the value is expressed in terms
of the selected dimensional unit. This item is only displayed for certain calculation methods.

Calculation Method - A drop-down list used to select which method is to be used to perform the calculation. Select
an item from the list. The unknown value should be recalculated if the method is changed.

Dimension Ratio - A data field used to enter or display the dimension ratio (DR) commonly used to designate the
wall thickness for plastic material pipe segments. If the value is known, enter a value by typing it into the data field.
This value is dimensionless. This item is only displayed for certain calculation methods.

Inside Diameter - A data field used to enter or display the inside (hydraulic) diameter of the pipe segment. If the
value is known, enter a value by typing it into the data field. Ensure the value is expressed in terms of the assigned
dimensional unit.

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Maximum Wall Thickness - A data field used to enter or display the maximum wall thickness of the pipe. If the
value is known, enter a value by typing it into the data field. Ensure the value is expressed in terms of the assigned
dimensional unit. If the outside diameter is set by selecting a size from the diameter list, the Wall Thickness value
will automatically be set to the wall thickness value listed in the Pipe Property Table. The outside diameter value
must be manually entered (not selected) if the wall thickness is manually entered. This item is only displayed for
certain calculation methods.

Minimum Outside Diameter - A data list used to enter, select, or display the minimum outside diameter of the pipe
segment. If the value is known, either select an item from the list, enter a value by typing it into the data field, or
select the ? command button to select a size using the Pipe Selection screen. Ensure the value is expressed in terms
of the selected dimensional unit. This item is only displayed for certain calculation methods.

Minimum Wall Thickness - A data field used to enter or display the minimum wall thickness of the pipe. If the
value is known, enter a value by typing it into the data field. Ensure the value is expressed in terms of the assigned
dimensional unit. If the outside diameter is set by selecting a size from the diameter list, the Wall Thickness value
will automatically be set to the wall thickness value listed in the Pipe Property Table. The outside diameter value
must be manually entered (not selected) if the wall thickness is manually entered. This item is only displayed for
certain calculation methods.

Outside Diameter - A data list used to enter, select, or display the outside diameter of the pipe segment. If the value
is known, either select an item from the list, enter a value by typing it into the data field, or select the ? command
button to select a size using the Pipe Selection screen. Ensure the value is expressed in terms of the selected
dimensional unit. This item is only displayed for certain calculation methods.

Wall Thickness - A data field used to enter or display the wall thickness of the pipe. If the value is known, enter a
value by typing it into the data field. Ensure the value is expressed in terms of the assigned dimensional unit. If the
outside diameter is set by selecting a size from the Outside Diameter list, the Wall Thickness value will automatically
be set to the wall thickness value listed in the Pipe Property Table. The outside diameter value must be manually
entered (not selected) if the wall thickness is manually entered. This item is only displayed for certain calculation
methods.

Command Buttons

? - A command button used to display a data selection screen for the associated item. Use the various data lists on
the screen to select a value, then select the Apply command button to assign the selected value and return to the
calculation screen.

i - A command button used to display information about the associated item. The contents of the information screen
generally reflects the various data values contained in the associated Property Table. Select the Close command
button to return to the calculation screen.

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Calculate - A command button used to calculate the value of the unknown (underlined) parameter.

Cancel - A command button used to close the screen without saving any changes.

Clear - A command button used to set all of the data items to blank (null) values.

Close - A command button used to close the screen and save the current data values.

Help - A command button used to display this Calculation Reference.

Notes - A command button used to display the Calculation Notes editor screen for the current calculation.

Open - A command button used to open a previously saved calculation file. When selected, the File Selection screen
will be displayed. Enter or select the desired File name, then select the Open command button.

Print - A command button used to print the contents of the calculation screen. When selected, the Print Settings
screen will be displayed. Make any desired changes to the printer settings, then select the Print command button.

Save - A command button used to save the contents of the calculation screen to a calculation file. When selected,
the File Selection screen will be displayed. Enter or select the desired File name, then select the Save command
button.

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Notes & Considerations

! The Calculation Notes editor screen allows the User to add a specific title and/or notes to the current calculation
values.

! The red colored labels indicate which items may be calculated. An underlined label identifies it as the item for
which the value is unknown. Only one item at a time may be selected to be calculated, the remaining items must be
known. To identify which item to calculate, click on the label associated with the desired item until the label is
underlined.

! When the pipe outside diameter value is set by selecting a size/type code from the diameter list, the outside
diameter and wall thickness values are read from the Pipe Property Table. These values may or may not be
appropriate for the selected calculation method. The appropriate values may need to be manually entered, as required
by the calculation method.

! The values calculated by this method are only valid for circular pipe.

! To specify the number of digits to display to the right of the decimal indicator, double-click in the associated data
field. The Decimal Specifications screen will be displayed. Enter or select the desired number of digits, then select
the Apply command button to save and apply any changes.

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Background Information

In liquid flow, the pipe may or may not be full during flow conditions. The liquid may only partially fill the pipe. One
property of a gas is that it completely fills the space that it is contained in. In gas flow, because of this property, the
pipe is always “full”. The hydraulic diameter will always be equal to the inside diameter of the pipe.

The basic approach to calculating the inside diameter of a pipe segment is fairly straight forward - the wall thickness
is subtracted twice from the outside diameter. Even so, there are several methods that are used in the industry to
determine the hydraulic or inside diameter of a pipe segment. Each method more or less uses the basic relationship
between the outside diameter, wall thickness, and inside diameter. However each has a unique approach to
determining the appropriate outside diameter and wall thickness value to be used in the calculation.

The customary method of calculating the inside diameter uses the nominal (normal) outside diameter and wall
thickness values to calculate the inside diameter. For steel pipe, these are the normal or standard values that appear
in most industry or manufacturer pipe dimension tables. For example, for an 8 Inch steel pipe with a wall thickness
of 0.156 Inches. The inside diameter would be calculated using 8.625 Inches for the outside diameter and 0.156
Inches for the wall thickness. For plastic pipe, the outside diameter would represent the normal or standard values
that appear in most industry or manufacturer pipe dimension tables, and the wall thickness would likely represent
the average values that appear in most industry or manufacturer pipe dimension tables.

The conservative method of calculating the inside diameter uses an outside diameter value which represents the
minimum outside diameter, and a wall thickness value which represents the maximum wall thickness listed in the
industry or manufacturer pipe dimension tables. Using these values will result in the smallest (most conservative)
inside diameter value that could be possible for the pipe segment. The minimum outside diameter and maximum wall
thickness values are determined by subtracting or adding the appropriate manufacturing tolerance to the nominal or
normal respective values. For example, if the normal outside diameter is reported to be 3.500 Inches with a
manufacturing tolerance of +0.008 and -0.008 Inches, the minimum outside diameter would be 3.492 Inches. If the
normal wall thickness value is reported to be 0.307 Inches with a manufacturing tolerance of +0.035 and -0.000
Inches, the maximum wall thickness would be 0.377 Inches.

The Plastic Pipe Institute (PPI) methods use equations and values defined in that reference. In general each uses
outside diameter, dimensional ratios, and wall thickness values reported in industry or manufacturer’s pipe dimension
tables.

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Equations

GASCalc provides several methods to calculate the Hydraulic (inside) diameter of a pipe segment. The equations
associated with each method are described on the following pages.

Outside Diameter & Wall Thickness - Customary

As implemented by GASCalc, the “customary” inside diameter value is computed using the following equation.

Reference 2

Outside Diameter & Wall Thickness - Conservative

As implemented by GASCalc, the “conservative” inside diameter value is computed using the following equation.

Reference 2

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Plastic Pipe Institute - Wall Thickness

As implemented by GASCalc, the “average” inside diameter value using the PPI wall thickness based method is
computed using the following equation.

Reference 1

Plastic Pipe Institute - Dimension Ratio

As implemented by GASCalc, the “average” inside diameter value using the PPI DR based method is computed using
the following equation.

Reference 1

References

1. Plastic Pipe Institute, Handbook Of Polyethylene Pipe, Second Edition, 2008.

2. None - Derived.

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See Also

Hoop Stress Calculation Reference

Thermal Expansion Calculation Reference

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