Improved linear interpolation practice for finite‐volume schemes on complex grids

Methods for the computation of flow problems based on finite‐volume discretizations and pressure‐correction methods frequently require the interpolation of control volume face values from nodal values. The simple, often employed central differencing scheme (CDS) leads to a significant loss in accuracy when the numerical grid is non‐regular as it is usual when modelling complex geometries. An alternative technique based on a multi‐dimensional Taylor series expansion (TSE) is proposed, which preserves the CDS‐like sparsity pattern of the discrete system. While the TSE scheme computationally is only slightly more expensive than the CDS approach, it results in a significantly higher accuracy, where the difference increases with the grid irregularity. The method is investigated and compared to the CDS approach for some representative test cases. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.