Effect of microstructure, residual stresses and building orientation on the fatigue response up to 109 cycles of an SLM AlSi10Mg alloy

•Microstructure can have a prevalent effect on the VHCF response than defect size.•Influence of residual stresses on the VHCF response increases with the defect size.•Interactions between microstructure, defects and residual stresses are detrimental.•Building orientation affects the VHCF response of AlSi10Mg specimens.•VHCF strength of horizontal specimens is larger than that of vertical specimens.