A local strain approach was applied to an external single and double grooved C-shaped specimen in order to evaluate and predict the fatigue crack initiation life by using low cycle fatigue properties. The low cycle fatigue properties were determined from the strain-controlled fatigue tests using smooth cylindrical axial specimens. Fatigue crack initiation life was evaluated by a life prediction software, FALIPS, based on the local strain approach. The fatigue life was significantly influenced by the mean stress, and SWT parameter represented the fatigue life effectively. The predicted fatigue crack initiation life was then compared to the experimental fatigue life evaluated from the C-shaped fatigue test specimens. A good correlation was found between the experimental and predicted fatigue lives within factors of 2 and 4 for the single and double grooved C-shaped specimens respectively. Also, experimental fatigue life of the double grooved specimen was 10-12 times longer than that of the single grooved specimen.