AbstractThis paper presents an investigation of the fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior at fastener holes in a high strength steel, 30CrMnSiNi2A, before and after a cold‐expansion process. The fatigue life of coldworked specimens was significantly increased compared to non‐coldworked ones and increased the lower applied stress level.From a study of the residual stress distribution near the edge of the hole, it was found that the experimental residual compressive stresses in absolute values were much less than the calculated values derived by previous analytical methods. Thus, a simplified residual stress model for describing the FCG behavior at coldworked fastener holes is proposed, from which, the δKeffand fatigue lives of specimens after cold‐expansion can be predicted satisfactorily for engineering applic