Abstract The paper presents an experimental investigation of the fatigue damage behavior of AISI 1020 steel using plasticity coupled continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model. The Model is based on the thermodynamics, a continuum damage variable, D and on the effective stress concept. The fatigue damage model of Yang et al is chosen for the damage prediction. Uniaxial tensile test along with load-unload tensile test are conducted in order to evaluate the parameters of the chosen model. A series of low cyclic strain controlled fatigue tests at varying strain amplitude are performed for estimation of fatigue life. Microscopic examination of the fractured surface of LCF specimen reveals the mechanism involved in damage initiation and its growth. The experimental results show a good agreement with the chosen plasticity coupled continuum damage mechanics model for fatigue damage. A good comparison between exiting models and experimental results and verification of mechanism of fractographic study, strengthen the opinion to use CDM as a tool to fatigue damage estimation of materials.