Cumulative distribution functions associated with bubble-nucleation processes in cavitation

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics simulations to analyze bubble-nucleation in a Lennard-Jones liquid, revealing that the process involves a relaxation time and correcting finite-size effects for accurate nucleation rate estimation.

Contribution

It introduces a modified Poisson process model with relaxation time for bubble nucleation, improving the accuracy of nucleation rate calculations in molecular simulations.

Findings

Nucleation process is a Poisson process with relaxation time.

Finite-size effects on nucleation rate are observed and corrected.

Using mean waiting time can lead to incorrect nucleation rate estimates.

Abstract

Bubble-nucleation processes of a Lennard-Jones liquid are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Waiting time, which is the lifetime of a superheated liquid, is determined for several system sizes, and the apparent finite-size effect of the nucleation rate is observed. From the cumulative distribution function of the nucleation events, the bubble-nucleation process is found to be not a simple Poisson process but a Poisson process with an additional relaxation time. The parameters of the exponential distribution associated with the process are determined by taking the relaxation time into account, and the apparent finite-size effect is removed. These results imply that the use of the arithmetic mean of the waiting time until a bubble grows to the critical size leads to an incorrect estimation of the nucleation rate.