Optimum ratio of line width to layer thickness for overhang performance?

Question

When I have overhangs in my model, Cura colors them red. However, I noticed if I make layer thickness thinner, the red area is reduced or disappears.

This could mean that thinner layer thickness is better for overhang, but it could also mean that a larger ratio of line width to layer thickness is better. It makes sense that if line width is 4X the layer thickness (such as 0.15 layers with 0.6 line width), overhang performance should be better than if line width is only 2X (such as 0.3 layers with the same 0.6 line width.

Is there a model that explains the optimum ratio of line thickness to layer height? Is only the ratio important, or is layer height also important by itself?

Answer 1

A wide line works if there is something below it to squeeze the filament against, but if you don't have a full layer below it, it will stay thinner and it will droop. I would not use extreme ratios on overhangs. Still, do a parametric test: a overhang tower (a compact one) at different line widths and layer heights. If you test 3 layer heights and 3 line widths, it's only 9 short prints.

However, as you can see in filament reviews, different materials behave differently. I think there is no a priori optimal value.

Answer 2

Cura high-lights overhangs in red if the printer would end up printing completely into thin air.

If your overhang is angled instead of being a purely vertical-to-horizontal transition, a much thinner layer height can increase the chances that enough of the prior layer exists to support the next layer being printed.

Basically, the thinner the layer (within reason), the greater the allowable angle of overhang that is safe to print.

Answer 3

In terms of Cura's model for showing overhangs, I'm nearly sure it's just the ratio - rise over run, or rather run over rise. And indeed that's what makes sense mathematically:

At least some portion of the wall extrusion in layer N+1 needs to sit on top of the corresponding wall extrusion in layer N. For a given 3D surface slope, the "run" - the distance the cross-section moves from one layer to the next, which needs to be bounded by some fraction of the line width - varies proportionally to the "rise" - the layer height.