The dynamic characteristics of water-cooled wall are of great significance to the evaluation of the safety and flexibility for the boiler during peak shaving process. However, few dynamic studies considered the uneven heat flux distribution on the water-cooled wall, let alone the variable heat load caused by the combustion instability. In this paper, a segmented dynamic model is developed for the water-cooled wall of a 660 MW ultra supercritical boiler. The model is validated under steady and dynamic working conditions, respectively. Then, the step responses of the steam temperature in different flow loops under different load conditions are comparatively studied under the disturbances of single-parameter changes. In the cases of 10 % step decrease of either the feedwater temperature, the heat load or the feedwater mass flowrate, the outlet steam temperature is influenced greatly by the step decreased feedwater temperature under 100 % BMCR condition, while it is impacted most by the step decreased feedwater mass flow under 50 % THA condition. Under these disturbances, the outlet steam temperature of the tube with higher heat loads has larger variation and longer response time. In addition, the simulated combustion instability by the sinusoidal fluctuating heat load on the water wall is employed to explore the influences of the flame fluctuation amplitude and frequency to the water wall. The maximum steam temperature rises with the increase in amplitude but drops with the frequency of flame fluctuation. The thresholds for the flame fluctuation amplitude and frequency are obtained under different load conditions.