Plastic Pipes Institute introduces free online Conduit Design Calculator

10/7/2022

Plastic Pipes Institute (PPI) introduced a free online calculator that allows you to input your project details and tells you the safe wall thickness for your intended installation.

The Conduit Design Calculator is a software tool that aids in determining the most appropriate wall thickness of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) conduit installed via horizontal directional drilling (HDD) techniques, while automating the Mini-HDD calculations described in Appendix A of PPI TN-48 Guidelines For Choosing Wall Thickness for HDPE Conduit Based on “Mini-HDD.”

The Calculator uses input such as directional changes in the bore path, and other project variables, to determine the Calculated Tensile Load on the selected HDPE conduit, as compared to the allowable Safe Pull Strength of the conduit in terms of Diameter Type (IPS, SIDR, or True-Size), Wall Type (DR, SDR or Schedule), Diameter (nominal size), and Material (type of HDPE).

Once the user enters the required Input data and clicks Calculate, several outputs are shown simultaneously, along with a summary of the User Inputs. Output can be emailed directly from the Calculator, or printed as a PDF file or as a paper file.

The output of the Calculator can be used to assist the user in selecting the most appropriate wall thickness of HDPE conduit to be used for a specific application. A result shown in Green and with a Safety Factor greater than 1.0 indicates that the displayed wall type will have sufficient tensile strength to meet the required estimated tensile forces, based on the user inputs and the embedded mathematical formulas and values. In some situations, more than one wall type will have sufficient tensile strength to meet the required tensile forces, and the user can select the wall type based on those results and other factors.

Click here for more information.