Abstract: The performance of steel reinforced high-strength concrete short columns is investigated by reversed cyclic horizontal load testing of several specimens under constant axial load. According to the measured stains of stirrups and steel, this paper analyzes the contributions of stirrups, steel web and concrete to shear capacity and contributions of steel and concrete to resist axial loads. Moreover, the mechanism of steel reinforced high-strength concrete short columns to resist shear force is investigated, and the formula to calculate its shear strength in both diagonal compression failure mode and bond failure mode are presented, Comparison shows that calculation results agree well with test results.