A molecular dynamics study on the growth of bubble nuclei with a noncondensable gas (1st report, a comparative analysis of the growth patterns)

The growth of bubble nuclei in a decompressed liquid has been investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In the case of one-component liquid in which no impurities were dissolved, we observed rapid growth of bubble nuclei with weak inter-bubble interaction in the early stage while seeing a competing coarsening that looks like Ostwald ripening in the late stage. In the case of two-component liquid in which a noncondensable gas was dissolved, we observed frequent coalescence of bubble nuclei through all stages. We pointed out that the different growth patterns in the two cases originated from the time characteristic of the pressure propagation and that of the diffusion of the noncondensable gas.