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This paper deals with the influence of interference fit coupling on the fatigue strength of holedplates. The effect was investigated both experimentally and numerically. Axial fatigue tests have been carried outon holed specimens made of high performance steel (35KB2, 1075MPa of Ultimate strength and 990MPa ofYield strength) with or without a pin, made of the same material, press fitted into their central hole. Threedifferent conditions have been investigated: the open hole specimens, specimens with 0.6% of nominal specificinterference and specimens with 2% of nominal specific interference. The experimental stress-life (S–N) curvespointed out an increased fatigue life of the interference fit specimens compared with the open hole ones. Thenumerical investigation was performed in order to analyse the stress field by applying an elastic plastic 2Dsimulation with commercial Finite Element software. The stress history and distribution around the interferencefitted hole, indicates a significant reduction of the stress amplitude produced by the external loading (remotestress) since a residual and compressive stress field is generated by the pin insertion.