The shear failure modes of fiber reinforced polymer(FRP) strengthened concrete beams are quite different to those of the beams strengthened with steel stirrups. When the beams are strengthened with larger amount of FRP composites, the beams normally fail in shear due to concrete crushing before the FRP reaches its rupture strain. In order to predict the shear strength of such beams, the actual rupture strain must be known. The equations previously reported in the technical literature adopt an effective reduction factor for the rupture strain. These equations may not be applicable to FRP strengthened RC beams that are beyond the experimental application limits, because most of these equations are empirical in nature. This paper presents the results of an analytical study on the performance of reinforced concrete beams externally wrapped with FRP composites and internally reinforced with conventional steel stirrups.