In previous research, reinforcing bars were always modeled by link elements or being smeared in the concrete when modeling flat plates failed in punching shear. These approaches ignore the dowel action effect which is one of the shear transfer mechanisms. In this study, the contribution of the dowel action on the punching shear strength of High-Performance Concrete (HPC) slabs was determined through analyzing three different nonlinear finite element models. The reinforcing bars were simulated as: a mesh of link elements (Model 1), a smeared layer in concrete elements (Model 2), or a mesh of solid elements (Model 3). The first and the second models don't account for dowel action effect while the third model does. Comparing the results of these models for large scale specimen with constant flexural reinforcement ratio of 1.675 % arranged in the tension side only, the dowel action contribution was about 15 % of the ultimate load. For further investigation of dowel action effect, another four specimens with different reinforcement ratios were modeled by model 1 and 3. The results showed 37.5 % difference in ultimate load between models for reinforcing ratio of 3.77 %.