What is layer height in 3D printing? We understand using the example of copla 0.4mm (Bambu Lab P1S)

18 Jul 20:43

3 min. read

heheprint

@heheprint

Post cover: What is layer height in 3D printing? We understand using the example of copla 0.4mm (Bambu Lab P1S)

Table of contentsClick link to navigate to the desired location

My test: two cubes on Bambu Lab P1S Why exactly 0.08 and 0.28?And what about the time?

This content has been automatically translated from Ukrainian.

View Original

Layer height is the thickness of one layer of plastic that the printer applies during printing. It directly affects:

Surface quality (the less - the smoother)
Print speed (the more - the faster)
Model strength (depends on adhesion between layers)

My test: two cubes on Bambu Lab P1S

Printed two identical cubes (20×20×20 mm; here is a model with a makerworld https://makerworld.com/en/models/14695-calibration-cube-xyz) with the same filament (VVM filament) but different layer height:

0.08 mm - extremely detailed, perfectly smooth, almost no visible layers. Printed longer.
0.28 mm - rougher look, layers are clearly visible, but printed many times faster

Why exactly 0.08 and 0.28?

Both values are not chosen by chance. They depend on nozzle diameter (I have a nozzle of 0.4 mm).

Calculation layer heights (layer height):

The minimum layer height is ≈ 20% of the nozzle diameter

0.4 mm × 0.20 = 0.0.8 mm

Maximum layer height ≈ 70% nozzle diameter

0.4 mm × 0.7 = 0.28 mm (more - risk of poor adhesion of layers)

Here is a quote from Bambu's official documentation:

In general, the reasonable range of layer height should be 20% ~70% of the nozzle diameter. For example, for the 0.4mm diameter nozzle, the appropriation printing layer height is between 0.08mm and 0.28mm.
Source: https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/software/bambu-studio/layer-height#adjustable-range-of-layer-height

And what about the time?

Layer difference 0.28/0.08 = 3.5 times (in theory. see real time below). But this is not the whole calculation. When printing, the printer does a lot of things. Moving, cooling, accelerating, etc. So to see real time:

add the desired model to the slicer
change the height of the layer
cut the model

And this is the only way to see real time. Of course, the smaller the layer, the longer it takes to print. With cubes, for example, the following situation: