The desire to reduce cost in helicopter components has meant that manufacturing/production engineering is always looking into novel machining processes. However, before these processes can be adopted by manufacturing, the effect that these machining techniques can have on fatigue performance will need to be assessed and characterized. The paper aims to present examples of three machining techniques which were identified by manufacturing/production engineering as offering distinct benefits over

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... achining processes currently used in the manufacture of helicopter components for AgustaWestland Limited (AWL), namely:-1. Thread Milling. 2. Hard Turning. 3. High Speed Machining. The paper will present the results of the assessments that were carried out by the AWL Materials Technology Department, in order to characterize each process against the methods that are currently used by AWL in the manufacture of critical helicopter parts.