Influence of post-processing on very high cycle fatigue resistance of Inconel 718 obtained with laser powder bed fusion

•The large pores produced by L-PBF are more likely to appear in the “macropore-rich-layer” with 300 μm thickness below the surface.•The roughness indicated by the depth-width ratio of the surface micro-depressions is closely related to the fatigue life.•The size of pores and crack initiation area are introduced to reflect the influence of pores on fatigue life.•The co-effect of HIP and machining is considered to be the most effective solution to improve the VHCF resistance.