The behaviour of beams in which plastic hinges are formed under cyclic loading is examined. The results are reported of five beam tests, in which the shear stress level was varied. It is shown that even relatively low shear stress levels have a significant influence on beam behaviour. Two main effects of shear are to reduce the ability of the hinge to dissipate energy and to reduce the stiffness of the beams at low load levels.. The degradation in shear under cyclic loading is accompanied by an appreciable growth in length of the beam.