To investigate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) piers retrofitted by active confinement of domestic NiTiNb-SMA wires, a pseudo-static test of three column specimens was carried out. Based on the experimental phenomena and lateral force-displacement curves, the skeleton curves, bearing capacity and ductility, strength degradation, cumulative energy dissipation and residual displacement of the specimens were analyzed. The results show that thermal excited NiTiNb-SMA wires can effectively provide active confinement stress for the pier, which reduced the damage and improved the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of piers. Compared with the control specimens, thermal excited SMA wires increased the displacement ductility coefficient and cumulative energy dissipation of the specimen by 27.8% and 10.4%, respectively. What′s more, it effectively reduced the strength degradation and improved the ability of restoring the residual displacement of piers.