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In this study, the effects of small surface defect and small crack on thefatigue limit of metallic materials were investigated. As a theoretical framework,McEvily’s fatigue crack growth equation was adopted to account for the Kitagawaeffect, the elastoplastic bahavior in the vicinity of the tip of fatigue crack and the crackclosuredevelopment in a unified manner. Based on the comparisons between thetheoretical predictions and the experimental data, the predictive capability of thepresent method was examined. Further, the influence of defect size and biaxial stress onthe multiaxial fatigue behaviors were studied in a systematic manner. Moreover, in viewof the area -parameter model, our effort was devoted to propose a simple yetreasonably accurate equation to predict the fatigue limit.