Abstract: Precast segmental prestressed columns have been widely applied in low seismicity regions in United States, but there are few applications in China. Due to the lack of seismic damage data, to the insufficient knowledge of their seismic performance and to the imperfect design method, the application in high seismicity regions is limited. According to the existing quasi-static test of a scale precast segmental prestressed column, a numerical model for the precast column under unidirectional and diagonal cyclic loads was developed by software ABAQUS, and its nonlinear behavior was verified by the experimental results. The local damage, hysteresis behavior, prestress force and joint opening of the model were compared and analyzed with the experimental results. The research results show that: the results of the model are in a good agreement with the experimental results. Both the test and simulation results show that the column under diagonal cyclic loading has more serious concrete damage, smaller yield displacement and lager residual displacement compared with the column under unidirectional cyclic loading. The residual drift has exceeded 1% when the maximum drift of the column is 4%. Therefore, only considering the unidirectional load can be non-conservative in the seismic design of precast segmental columns, it is recommended to consider the influence of multidirectional seismic loads especially when considering that the columns can be restored or repaired after earthquakes.