Abstract: A calculation method for surface crack fatigue propagation shape was proposed based on the theory of energy release rate during crack propagation, and the shape evolution of surface crack propagation in metal sheet under tensile and bend fatigue loads was studied and verified by experiments. The results show that the surface crack shape obtained by calculation was semi-circular in the initial stage of surface crack propagation under the tensile load, and gradually changed to flat long semi-elliptical shape with the increase of crack depth; the surface crack shape was semi-circular in the initial stage of crack propagation under the bending load, and gradually became slender semi-elliptical shape with the increase of crack depth. The shape of surface crack during fatigue propagation obtainbed by tests was getting closer to that obtained by calculation. The relative error of crack depth between the tested value and calculated value was less than 4.5% under the condition of equal surface crack length, indicating that the calculation method of surface crack propagation shape based on the theory of energy release rate was feasible to predict shape evolution of surface crack fatigue propagation.