A kinetic flux-vector splitting method for the shallow water magnetohydrodynamics Original Research Article

A kinetic flux-vector splitting (KFVS) scheme for the shallow water magnetohydrodynamic (SWMHD) equations in one- and two-space dimensions is formulated and applied. These equations model the dynamics of a thin layer of nearly incompressible and electrically conducting fluids for which the evolution is nearly two-dimensional with magnetic equilibrium in the third direction. The proposed numerical scheme is based on the direct splitting of macroscopic flux functions of the SWMHD equations. In two-space dimensions the scheme is derived in a usual dimensionally split manner; that is, the formulae for the fluxes can be used along each coordinate direction. The high-order resolution of the scheme is achieved by using a MUSCL-type initial reconstruction and Runge–Kutta time stepping method. Both one- and two-dimensional test computations are presented. For validation, the results of KFVS scheme are compared with those obtained from the space–time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) method. The accuracy, efficiency and simplicity of the KFVS scheme demonstrate its potential in modeling SWMHD equations.