Nanobubble Collapse on a Silica Surface in Water: Billion-Atom Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Cavitation bubbles occur in fluids subjected to rapid changes in pressure. We use billion-atom reactive molecular dynamics simulations on a 163,840-processor BlueGene/P supercomputer to investigate damage caused by shock-induced collapse of nanobubbles in water near an amorphous silica surface. Collapse of an empty bubble generates a high-speed nanojet, which causes pitting on the silica surface. We find pit radii are close to bubble radii, and experiments also indicate linear scaling between them. The gas-filled bubbles undergo partial collapse and, consequently, the damage on the silica surface is mitigated.