Calculate maximum 3d-print speed

The problem

The slowest link in 3D printing is the hot end, which cannot melt enough filament from a speed x. Therefore we have to calculate the maximum flow rate of your hot end based on the maximum melting rate mm³ / s. Once we know this, we can calculate how fast you can print with your 3D printer without having to struggle with extrusion.

Determine maximum print speed

If we know the maximum flow rate of the hot end, we can use this formula: Recommended maximum speed = maximum flow rate / (layer height * extrusion width) to calculate the maximum printing speed. Let's assume that we have a maximum flow rate of 13.86 mm³ and we want to print with a layer height of 0.2 mm and a layer width of 0.48 mm. Now we can use this calculation 13.86 / (0.2 * 0.48) to calculate the max speed, in this example we can then print at a maximum of 144 mm / s.

Increase print speed

Sometimes things can't go fast enough and you want to print faster. However, this requires the hotend e.g. To modify E3D-V6 to this hot end there is the extension Volcano or Super Volcano due to the larger melting zone the printing speed can be increased considerably


Layer height: mm

Extrusion width: mm

maximum flow rate: mm³/s

The maximum print speed is: 0 mm/s