Development of fatigue testing system for in-situ observation of stainless steel 316 by HS-AFM & SEM

•Design and fabrication of a miniature three-point bend fatigue stage.•In-situ observation of fatigue microcrack initiation and growth behaviour using SEM and HS-AFM.•High amplitude low cycle fatigue tests have been carried out on annealed AISI Type 316 stainless steel.•Quantification of the spacing between slip bands and their height at the centre of the AISI Type 316 stainless steel.