Abstract: Conventional metal yielding dampers are usually designed only for medium and large earthquakes, which are difficult to dissipate energy under minor earthquakes. It is also difficult to observe the practical state after an earthquake and is inconvenient to replace them. A new metal tube damper is proposed. The steel strips with different yielding properties can dissipate energy separately, thus exhibiting a graded yielding behavior. Considering the influence of the semi-rigid joints at both ends of the strips, the performance parameters calculation formulas of the damper are derived. Quasi-static tests of the damper were carried out to reveal its failure characteristics. Refined finite element simulation of the specimens is carried out. The graded yielding characteristics of the damper are further verified by the stress nephogram. The performance parameters obtained from theoretical calculation, experiment and finite element simulation are compared. The results show that the damper could effectively achieve the design goal of graded yielding and has good deformation capacity and energy dissipation capacity. The accuracy of the performance parameter calculation formulas is high. The performance parameters of the damper obtained by the theoretical calculation and the finite element simulation are in good agreement with the experimental results. The rationality and accuracy of the refined finite element model are verified.