Hydraulic diameter
From CFD-Wiki
The hydraulic diameter, , is commonly used when dealing with non-circular pipes, holes or ducts.
The definition of the hydraulic diamater is:
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Use of hydraulic diameter
Estimating the turbulent length-scale
For fully-developed flow in non-circular ducts the turbulent length-scale can be estimated as . This is as usefull estimation for setting turbulence boundary conditions for inlets that have fully developed flow.
Hydraulic diameters for different duct-geometries
Using the definition above the hydraulic diamater can easily be computed for any type of duct-geometry. Below follows a few examples.
Circular pipe
For a circular pipe or hole the hydraulic diamater is:
Where d is the real diameter of the pipe. Hence, for circular pipes the hydraulic diameter is the same as the real diameter of the pipe.
Rectangular tube
For a rectangular tube or hole with the width and the height
the hydraulic diamter is:
Coaxial circular tube
For a coaxial circular tube with an inner diameter and an outer diameter
the hydraulic diameter is: