High cycle fatigue properties of high-nitrogen steel hot-rolled with the yield strength level of 1000 MPa

•Fe-19Cr-20Mn-0.6 N steel were hot-rolled with fixed microstructures.•Hot-rolled HNS steel could reach the YS level of 1000 MPa.•Fatigue limit at 107 cycles was about 840 MPa. The fatigue properties of an Fe-19Cr-20Mn-0.6N high-nitrogen steel (HNS), which was hot-rolled with the yield strength level of 1000 MPa, were investigated by means of tension–tension fatigue tests. The results showed that the fatigue life increased in a power law manner with the decrease of the maximum stress from 1040 MPa to 880 MPa. The fatigue limit at the 107 cycles was about 840 MPa, with the ratios of the fatigue limit to yield strength and tensile strength being 0.79 and 0.69, respectively. The high fatigue limit could be attributed to its high yield strength level, which was resulted from the mixed microstructure consisting of ultrafine grains and elongated grains with some slip bands.