Abstract: To study the seismic performance of the steel column base with shear type energy dissipation device, the ABAQUS is used to analyze the parameters of nine column base joint models. The results of finite element calculation are compared with the test results to verify the model accuracy. The influences of the variation of cross-sectional area, width-thickness ratio and the axial compression ratio of the column, on the seismic performance of the column base, such as the resistance capacity, initial stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and self-reset capacity, are studied by using effective column base joint model. The results show that the resistance capacity of the column base is less affected by the width-thickness ratio; when the section area of the weakened section of the energy dissipation device increases to 1.1 times, the resistance capacity can be increased by 36%; when the axial compression ratio of the column base becomes 4 times larger, the resistance capacity can be increased by 58%. The results show that the energy dissipation capacity of column base joint is less affected by the axial compression ratio of steel column; when the section area of the weakened section of energy dissipation device becomes about 2.1 times of the original, the energy consumption of column base joint increases about 79%; when the width-thickness ratio of shear type energy dissipation device increases 3.1 times, the energy consumption of column base joint increases nearly 20%. In addition, the residual deformation of the column base has little influence on the width-thickness ratio of the energy dissipation device. When the weakened section area of the column base increases by one time, the residual displacement angle of the column base node increases by 209%; when the axial compression ratio of the steel column increases by two times, the residual displacement angle of the column base decreases by 54%. In conclusion, when the axial compression ratio is constant, the resistance capacity and energy dissipation capacity of the steel column base can be improved by increasing the cross-sectional area of the shear type energy dissipation device or increasing the width-thickness ratio of the shear type energy dissipation device.