Fitting minor losses (K-values) API

Computes local/minor head loss hL = K·v²/(2g) for a single K or a summed list of fitting/valve/bend K-values, returning total K, velocity head, head loss, and pressure drop — the companion to Darcy-Weisbach major losses. Answers 'What is the head loss from pipe fittings?', 'What pressure drop do these valves and elbows cause?'.

Price$0.04per request

MethodPOST

Route/v1/engineering/minor-losses

StatusLive

MIME typeapplication/json

Rate limit120/minute

Cache0s public

engineeringthermofluidsfluidsminor-lossesk-valuefittingsvalveshead-losspipe-flow

API URLhttps://x402.hexl.dev/v1/engineering/minor-losses

Integration docs

Example request

{
  "velocityMs": 3,
  "kValues": [
    0.5,
    0.9,
    0.2,
    10
  ],
  "densityKgM3": 998
}

Example response

{
  "velocityMs": 3,
  "totalK": 11.6,
  "velocityHeadM": 0.458872,
  "headLossM": 5.322919,
  "pressureDropPa": 52095.6,
  "pressureDropKPa": 52.0956,
  "formula": "hL = K*v²/(2g); ΔP = ρ*g*hL"
}

Input schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "velocityMs"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "velocityMs": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "flow velocity (m/s)",
      "examples": [
        3
      ]
    },
    "kValues": {
      "type": "array",
      "description": "loss coefficients to sum",
      "items": {
        "type": "number"
      },
      "examples": [
        [
          0.5,
          0.9,
          0.2,
          10
        ]
      ]
    },
    "kTotal": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "pre-summed total K (alternative to kValues)"
    },
    "densityKgM3": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "density (kg/m^3); default 998"
    }
  }
}

Output schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": true
}