The fatigue behaviour of additively manufactured (AM) 316L stainless steel is investigated with the main emphasis on internal porosity and surface roughness. A transition between two cases of failure are found: failure from defects in the surface region and failure from the internal defects. At low applied load level (and consequently a high number of cycles to failure), fatigue is initiating from defects in the surface region, while for high load levels, fatigue is initiating from internal defects. Porosities captured by X‐ray computed tomography (XCT) are compared with the defects initiating fatigue cracks, obtained from fractography. The fatigue data are synthesised using stress intensity factor (SIF) of the internal and surface defects on the fracture surface.

The fatigue behaviour of notched and unnotched specimens produced by additively manufactured Inconel 718 were analysed in the as‐built and heat‐treated conditions. The surfaces display high roughness and defects acting as fatigue initiation sites. In the as‐built condition, fine subgrains were found, while in in the heat‐treated state, the subgrains were removed and the dislocation density recovered. SN‐curves are predicted based on tensile properties, hardness and defects obtained by fractography, using the ‐method.