In this work, a numerical code has been applied in order to obtain the wall pressure fluctuations at the volute of an industrial centrifugal fan. The numerical results have been contrasted using previous experimental investigations carried out in the same machine. A three-dimensional numerical simulation of the complete unsteady flow on the whole impeller-volute configuration has been carried out using the computational fluid dynamics code FLUENT®. This code has been employed to calculate the time-dependent pressure both in the impeller and in the volute. In this way, the pressure fluctuations in some locations over the volute wall have been obtained. The power spectra of these fluctuations have been calculated, showing an important peak at the blade passing frequency. The amplitude of this peak presents the highest values near the volute tongue, but the spatial pattern over the volute extension is different depending on the operating conditions. The code has successfully simulated the volute pressure fluctuations due to the aerodynamic field, capturing the main flow phenomena such as the jet-wake effects and the impeller-volute interaction.

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