Tensile behavior in concrete has been neglected until recently. However, the effect of tensile stresses in concrete must be considered where the member primarily carries tensile forces or when ultimate strength is affected by the cracking history. In this paper, a series of experiments were performed with a reinforced rectangular beams of 15 specimens in order to investigate the effect of tension stiffening into the nonlinear analysis and cracking behavior. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of load-deflection curves and strain fracture energy with respect to the main experimental variables such as types of specimen, strength of concrete and steel ration. The results from experiments and finite element analysis were compared in terms of load-deflection relationship and cracking pattern. The results are as follows ; The tension stffening effects of reinforced concrete beams were observedc up to yielding of members after cracking showing strain energy difference of 35 % at the beam of 0.57% steel ratio compared with that of beam ignoring the tension stiffening effect. The tension stiffening of concrete strength 400kgf/$ extrm{cm}^2$ and 600kgf/$ extrm{cm}^2$ increased by 8% and 13%, respectively, compared with that of concrete strength 200kgf/$ extrm{cm}^2$. The tension stiffening effects were greater at a ductile member rather than a brittle one. The load-deflection results of finite element analysis showed very similar results from experiment. The crack growth and pattern might be predicted from the nonlinear finite element analysis considering concrete stiffening.