ABSTRACT:In continuous steel-concrete composite structures, cracking of the concrete slab in the hogging bending moment region decreases the global stiffness of composite structures and reduces the effect of continuity, resulting in making the structural behaviors highly nonlinear even for low stress levels. Because of this, special consideration is necessary. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effects of rubber-latex mortar and different types of shear connectors on inelastic behavior of composite girders subjected to hogging moment. Two overturned simply supported steel-concrete composite girders with different shear connectors such as Studs and Perfo-Bond Strips (PBLs) were tested under concentrated load in the mid-span. Based on the experimental observations, a three-dimensional FE model capable of analyzing the composite beams subjected to negative bending moment was built. Strength and load bearing capacity, sectional strain distribution and movement of composite neutral axis before and after cracking were observed in the test and compared with the numerical results, and the results predicted by this modeling method are in good agreement with those obtained from the tests. Research results indicate that the PBL connectors could slightly improve the rigidity of the composite girder under both the serviceability limit state and the ultimate limit state, while Stud specimens have relatively better mechanical behavior in regard to the initial crack and the "crack closure" of the test specimens. Besides, research results indicate that the current specifications such as AASHTO, JSCE, and EUROCODE-4 can provide appropriate values for ultimate strength of a composite girder under negative bending moment. Moreover, noise reduction, shear stud stiffness increase and the adhesion bonding effect of rubber-latex mortar on interface slip were confirmed in the tests.