Abstract <p>The results of development of the methodology and program for numerical modeling of the process of fatigue failure of structural elements with surface mechanical damage (defects) such as guide scratches and marks are presented. The calculation includes two stages: Stage 1 includes modeling the process of defect formation as a dynamic elastic-plastic contact problem; Stage 2 includes fatigue calculation taking into account the influence of defects and residual stress fields arising during its creation. For a number of model examples, the distributions of residual stresses in defect zones and the dependences of the maximum residual stress on the cross sectional shape of damaging elements (of various configurations (rectangular, semielliptical, wedge-shaped) and their movement speeds are obtained, and the values of the minimum movement speeds of damaging elements at which the damage of the considered type is possible for a given cross-sectional configuration are established. The results of calculations of samples made of 17G1S pipe steel with defects for resistance to fatigue failure are presented.</p>