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Fatigue crack initiation is classically predicted by macroscopic models, where the
critical variables are combinations of macroscopic stress and strain. Nevertheless,
the local mechanisms responsible for crack initiation in metals and alloys are persistent
slip bands (PSB), which develop on a microscale, in each grain. Having in
view a better understanding of the local mechanisms, the purpose of this work is to
get an improved knowledge of the local stress and strain fields and to examine the
result obtained by using the relevant variables in local crack initiation models.