What is layer height in 3D printing? Let's analyze it using a 0.4mm nozzle (Bambu Lab P1S) as an example.

18 Jul 20:43

3 min. read

heheprint

@heheprint

Post cover: What is layer height in 3D printing? Let's analyze it using a 0.4mm nozzle (Bambu Lab P1S) as an example.

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?What about time?

This content has been automatically translated from Ukrainian.

View Original

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

Surface quality (the smaller - the smoother)
Printing speed (the larger - the faster)
Model strength (depends on the adhesion between layers)

My test: two cubes on Bambu Lab P1S

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

0.08 mm - extremely detailed, perfectly smooth, almost no visible layers. Takes longer to print.
0.28 mm - rougher appearance, layers are clearly visible, but printed much faster

Why exactly 0.08 and 0.28?

Both values are chosen not randomly. They depend on the nozzle diameter (I have a 0.4mm nozzle).

Calculation of layer height:

Minimum layer height ≈ 20% of the nozzle diameter

0.4 mm × 0.20 = 0.08 mm

Maximum layer height ≈ 70% of the nozzle diameter

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

Here is a quote from the official Bambu 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 appropriate 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

What about time?

The difference in layers 0.28/0.08 = 3.5 times (theoretically. see actual time below). But this is not the whole calculation. During printing, the printer performs many actions. Movement, cooling, acceleration, etc. So to see the actual time:

add the required model to the slicer
change the layer height
slice the model

And only then can you see the actual time. Of course, the smaller the layer, the longer it takes to print. With cubes, for example, the situation is as follows: