A simple incompressible flux splitting for sharp free surface capturing

This paper first applies a flux vector‐type splitting method based on the numerical speed of sound for computing incompressible single and multifluid flows. Here, a preconditioning matrix based on Chorin's artificial compressibility concept is used to modify the incompressible multifluid Navier–Stokes equations to be hyperbolic and density or volume fraction‐independent. The current approach can reduce eigenvalues disparity induced from density or volume fraction ratios and enhance numerical stability. Also, a simple convection‐pressure flux‐splitting method with high‐order essentially nonoscillatory‐type primitive variable extrapolations coupled with monotone upstream‐centered schemes for conservation laws‐type volume fraction recompressed reconstruction is used to maintain the preservation of sharp interface evolutions in multifluid flow simulations. Benchmark tests including a solid rotation test of a notched two‐dimensional cylinder, the evolution of spiral and rotational shapes of deformable circles, a dam breaking problem, and the Rayleigh–Taylor instability were chosen to validate the current incompressible multifluid methodology. An incompressible driven cavity was also chosen to check the robustness of the proposed method on the computation of single fluid incompressible flow problems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.