Volumetric flow rate calculator
Layer height × line width × speed is the plastic your hotend must melt every second — this shows that number and how much headroom your hotend has left. Need the ceiling first? The max print speed calculator works the same formula backwards, and ringing from fast corners is what the pressure advance calculator tunes out.
0 mm³/s
current volumetric flow
| Hotend limit | – |
| Headroom | safe– |
| Max speed at these settings | – |
How to use
Enter the layer height, line width and speed from your slicer and pick your hotend. The result card shows the flow you are actually asking for; the headroom row shows it as a percentage of the hotend's limit — safe below 80%, near limit from 80–100% (little margin left), over limit above 100% (the hotend cannot melt fast enough — expect under-extrusion, weak layers and skipped steps). The last row reverses the formula: the fastest speed your hotend allows at these layer/width settings.
Material matters
Max flow is a property of the hotend and the filament — the preset values are PLA-style numbers. Rough community guidance:
- PLA — flows easiest; quoted max-flow numbers are usually measured with PLA.
- PETG — typically 10–30% lower max flow on the same hotend; likes it slower.
- ABS / ASA — close to PLA when printed hot, but the limit drops fast if you print cold.
These are starting points only — run a max-flow test on your own setup before trusting the headroom number at the edge.