Material Shrinkage Scale Factor Calculator
Calculate the slicer scale factor needed to compensate for material shrinkage in 3D printing.
Enter your target dimension and material to get the corrected model scale.
All plastics shrink as they cool from the melt temperature to room temperature. For most FDM materials the shrinkage is small (0.2-0.5%) and within acceptable tolerances for general parts. For engineering applications and precision fits, it matters.
ABS and ASA shrink the most of the common FDM materials — 0.5-0.8% linearly. This means a 100 mm ABS part comes out 99.2-99.5 mm without compensation. Over a 200 mm part, that is a 1-1.6 mm shortfall. Nylon can shrink 1-2% and has the additional problem of moisture-induced dimensional change after printing.
Typical shrinkage rates (linear, room-temperature measurement):
- PLA: 0.2-0.3%
- PETG: 0.2-0.4%
- ABS: 0.5-0.8%
- ASA: 0.4-0.7%
- Nylon PA6: 0.8-1.5%
- Nylon PA12: 0.5-1.0%
- PC: 0.5-0.8%
- TPU: 0.5-1.0%
Scale factor formula:
scale (%) = 100 / (1 - shrinkage%) or equivalently: scaled_dimension = target / (1 - shrinkage%)
For 0.7% ABS shrinkage: scale = 100 / 0.993 = 100.705%. A 100 mm target should be modeled at 100.7 mm.
Important caveat. Shrinkage in FDM is not perfectly isotropic. X and Y directions (within the print plane) typically shrink more than Z (layer stacking direction). If precision is critical in all three axes, measure and compensate each axis separately.