Bolt-column (BC) joint is an innovative fabricated semi-rigid joint with strong bending stiffness that can meet the need of rapid construction of latticed shell structure. To investigate the dynamic behavior of SLR shells with BC joints subjected to harmonic load and earthquake load, finite element (FE) modeling of SLR shells with BC joint was built taking geometric and material nonlinearity into account, and the simulation method was validated by comparing with the test result on a cylindrical reticulated shell. Based on this model, effect of joint stiffness on the dynamic response was examined and failure modes of SLR shells jointed with BC joint subjected to harmonic load and earthquake load were studied. Two failure modes, dynamic strength failure which results from the extensive plastic deformation and dynamic instability failure which is induced by the geometric nonlinearity of the shell, were defined. Subsequently, the criteria on differentiating the two failure modes were derived based on response characteristics indicators. Furthermore, investigation on damaged factor of SLR shells jointed with BC joint was conducted, and according to numerous numerical examples, the damaged index of SLR shells with BC joint was derived, which can be utilized to conduct fragility analysis.