•The classical Markl’s method for low cycle fatigue (LCF) evaluation is reexamined.•The applicability and limitations of Markl’s method are pointed out.•The structural strain method is applied to improve the Markl’s method.•Simplified structural strain method is proposed for pipe structure LCF evaluation. Markl’s pseudo-elastic stress method has been the basis for low cycle fatigue (LCF) evaluation of girth-welded piping connections for decades, which underpins several international codes and standards. Here, we reexamine the applicability of Markl’s method in correlating some recent LCF fatigue data on girth-welded pipes. To mitigate its deficiencies, a simplified structural strain method is proposed for achieving an effective correlation of the same test data. The proposed method can be conveniently used for LCF evaluation of girth-welded pipe components either as an experimental measurement technique or a post-processing procedure of elastic-plastic finite element results.