What is the impact of nozzle diameter on selecting layer thickness and raster width ? For 0.4 mm nozzle diameter, what are the achievable layer thickness and raster width.
In FDM, there are four sizes of nozzle diameters (depending on the selected material). These sizes are 0.127 mm, 0.1778 mm, 0.2540 mm and 0.3302 mm. The nozzle diameter can effect on layer height and path width. Nozzle of bigger diameter extrudes thicker strings, and vice versa. 0.4 mm nozzle diameter can achieve accuracy up to 100 micron. With a 0.4 mm nozzle you must set your raster width to something slightly bigger, such as 0.5 mm. Technically, it is possible to fabricate your part with raster width that is the same or smaller than the nozzle size. However, this leads to weak prints.
The size of your nozzle determines only two things: the maximum layer height and the minimum feature size. Although there are some practical constraints you wouldn't need to fabricate 0.1 mm layers with a 4 mm nozzle.
there is already a lot of research on this subject. A rule of thumb is a layer tickness half the nozzle diameter. So 0.2 layer thickness for 0.4 nozzle dia. Smaller layer thicknesses compress the layer, you are loosing detail, and a thickness in the range of the nozzle diameters doesn't bond the layers. Slic3r calculates the appropriate raster width by offsetting the print lines with one nozzle diameter.
Nozzle diameters typically range from 0.2 - 1 mm or even bigger. It is a question of quality and time what diameter to choose. More problems arise from the higher forces requiered to extrude with smaller nozzle diameters and bigger swelling after extrusion.
There is a range which is suitable. With 0.4 dia the layer thickness can be about 0.1 to 0.3 mm. But best results are possible with about half the nozzle diameter.
There are other parameters that need to be adjusted when printing different layer thicknesses with specific nozzle diameter to obtain good print results. You can print different thicknesses (within range) but you need to optimize combination of extruder speed and X,Y nozzle speed. Most commercial printers firmware or software allow different layer thicknesses to improve print speed or quality.