🌬️ Free Engineering Tool

Duct Sizing Calculator

Calculate air velocity and friction pressure drop for rectangular and circular HVAC ducts. Uses the Darcy-Weisbach equation with real material roughness values. SI units.

📐 Rectangular Duct
⭕ Circular Duct

Rectangular Duct

Enter duct dimensions and airflow to calculate velocity and pressure drop.

Aspect ratio limit: Keep width:height ratio ≤ 5:1 for reliable results. Above this ratio, pressure drop calculations become unreliable.

Results

Duct Area
-
Equivalent Diameter (De)
-mm
Air Velocity
-m/s
Pressure Drop (per metre)
-Pa/m
Total Pressure Drop (duct run)
-Pa
Aspect Ratio
-

Recommended Velocity Ranges

Main ducts (supply/return) 4–8 m/s
Branch ducts 2.5–6 m/s
Final branches / grilles 1.5–3 m/s
Friction limit (max) ≤ 1.0 Pa/m

Circular Duct

Enter duct diameter and airflow to calculate velocity and pressure drop.

Common sizes: 100, 125, 150, 160, 200, 250, 315, 355, 400, 450, 500, 560, 630, 710, 800, 900, 1000 mm

Results

Duct Area
-
Air Velocity
-m/s
Pressure Drop (per metre)
-Pa/m
Total Pressure Drop (duct run)
-Pa
Reynolds Number
-

Recommended Velocity Ranges

Main ducts (supply/return) 4–8 m/s
Branch ducts 2.5–6 m/s
Final branches / grilles 1.5–3 m/s
Friction limit (max) ≤ 1.0 Pa/m

How the calculator works

📐

Darcy-Weisbach Equation

Pressure drop calculated using: ΔP/L = f × (1/D) × (ρV²/2), where f is the Darcy friction factor, D is hydraulic diameter, ρ is air density (1.2 kg/m³), and V is velocity.

🔄

Colebrook-White Friction Factor

Friction factor solved iteratively using the Colebrook-White equation: 1/√f = −2 log(ε/3.7D + 2.51/Re√f), applied for turbulent flow (Re > 4000).

📏

Huebscher Equivalent Diameter

For rectangular ducts, the equivalent circular diameter is: De = 1.30 × (a×b)^0.625 / (a+b)^0.25. This allows circular duct friction equations to be applied to rectangular sections.

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