Abstract
The present study investigates bubble nucleation based on molecular dynamics simulation in a homogeneous Lennard-Jones liquid under heating with a constant mean negative pressure. Very good agreement between simulated nucleation rate and prediction of classical theory is obtained. The simulated bubble growth rate is from 0.08 to 0.197 Å/psec, which is about one order of magnitude smaller than that predicted from the Rayleigh equation. It is found that both nucleation rate and bubble growth rate increase, in general, with increasing the magnitude of negative pressure. It is also found that there is an asymptotic bubble diameter after about 300 to 400 psec of growth. The asymptotic bubble size accounts for about 50% to 70% of volume fraction, which is close to the maximum packing (74%) of spherical bubbles without coalescence from the macroscopic point of view.