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hydraulics / hydrostatics

Hydrostatic wall pressure calculator.

Estimate the triangular water-pressure distribution, resultant thrust, centre of pressure, and moment for a still fluid acting on a vertical wall or tank face.

read the result

A still fluid gets heavier with depth.

For a vertical plane with a level free surface, hydrostatic pressure varies linearly from zero at the surface to p = γH at the base. The pressure diagram is triangular, so its resultant acts at one-third of the water depth above the base.

Governing equations

pbase = γH; P/B = γH²/2; ycp = H/3; and M = P ycp. The calculator reports the force per metre of wall and scales it by the entered wall length.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers describes water pressure as water depth multiplied by specific weight and uses the conventional triangular distribution for hydrostatic water loading in its sheet-pile wall engineering manual.

Keep the pressure case visible.

  • Waves, flow velocity, impact, rapid drawdown, uplift, seepage, pore pressure, and groundwater gradients are not checked.
  • Wall flexibility, tank restraint, cracks, joints, openings, buoyancy, and foundation stability are not included.
  • Use differential water levels when both sides are wetted; do not treat this single-sided screen as a complete hydraulic-structure design.