The effects of milling as machining process and a post-machining treatment by wire-brush hammering, on the near surface layer characteristics of AA 5083-H111 were investigated. Surface texture, work-hardening and residual stress profiles were determined by roughness measurement, scanning electron microscope (SEM) examinations, microhardness and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The effects of surface preparation on the fatigue strength were assessed by bending fatigue tests performed on notched samples for two loading stress ratios R 0.1 and R 0.5. It is found that the bending fatigue limit at R 0.1 and 10 7 cycles is 20% increased, with respect to the machined surface, by wire-brush hammering. This improvement was discussed on the basis of the role of surface topography, stabilized residual stress and work-hardening on the fatigue-crack network nucleation and growth. The effects biaxial residual stress field and surface workhardening were taken into account in the finite element model. A multi-axial fatigue criterion was proposed to predict the fatigue strength of aluminum alloy notched parts for both machined and treated states.