Another model comprising several shear transfer actions was suggested by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [15], emphasizing the effect of the compression chord, in particular. In the Critical Shear Crack Theory by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [23], the failure criterion accounted for the effects of residual tensile stress, aggregate interlock and dowel action in the shear crack. The most comprehensive model also considering the effect of the compression zone in a kinematically consistent manner was presented by [PERSON] [24]. The model is based on a free body diagram of cracked concrete teeth and postulates an equilibrium between the internal shear stress resultant and the external shear force. The shear strength is determined using an iterative procedure. Despite these research efforts, there is still a remarkable number of open research questions. In the authors' opinions, the best way to gain a deeper insight into the shear of RC members is to model the entire shear response instead of focusing on the failure state. Staring from this ambition, a new theory called Shear Crack Propagation Theory (SCPT) was developed by [PERSON] [25] to analyze the ever-changing interplay of crack propagation, evolution of stresses at the crack tip and in uncracked concrete parts of the control section, as well as the activation of shear transfer actions within the growing shear crack during the entire loading process. The localization and propagation of cracks through the shear zone of RC members poses several challenging questions that have been addressed in the context of finite element modeling. For example, promising approaches have been proposed by [PERSON] [26], [PERSON] [27] and [PERSON] [28]. Additional finite element (FE) and discrete element approaches providing reasonable results are presented in [29; 30; 31; 32], as well as in [33], giving a good prediction of the shear capacity of large slabs, indicating that size-dependent effects are well-covered. A specific challenge in the numerical modeling of shear in concrete is the consideration of aggregate interlock and mixed-mode behavior, which can neither be captured realistically by simplified approaches using shear retention factors (reduction of the shear modulus) [34] nor using micro-planes [35]. A new smeared crack formulation, called the fictitious rough crack model (FRCM) [36], was proposed to account for the shear transfer across cracks and mixed mode fracture of concrete, which combines a multiaxial material model, including tension-softening (mode I), with rough crack shear transfer laws (mode II) and superposes the emerging shear and normal stresses of both mechanisms in the crack in order to numerically represent the mixed mode concrete behavior. However, in contrast to such numerical approaches using FE modeling, the ambition of the research proposed in this paper is not only to mimic the experimental behavior as close as possible and to isolate and classify the relevant parameters of the shear zone behavior but to provide a comprehensible, mechanical idea of the interaction of the involved mechanisms of shear behavior that allow to derive simplified and easy-to-use engineering models based on a sound mechanical theory. In general, models based on discrete crack kinematics, as well as FE models, are able to give a reasonable and good prediction of the ultimate shear capacity and the crack development in simply supported beams. However, the SCPT in particular is motivated to explain the mechanical background of the shear in RC members on a more general basis for developing practice-related design tools. Overall, the shear cracking behavior and failure of RC members was studied in numerous experimental campaigns in the past. However, there are no test campaigns known so far where the RC beams and the corresponding test specimens for characterizing the constitutive relations (tensile behavior, aggregate interlock and dowel action) were produced from the same material set.