Nonlinear simulation results for a 220-GHz rectangular dielectric-loaded traveling-wave amplifier are presented. Simulations are used to check a linear theory that is developed by phenomenological introduction of an effective dielectric parameter for electron beam channel, and it is found that the rf power gains from Pierce three-wave theory and particle simulations are in reasonable agreement. It is shown that the rf power gain during initial beam-wave interaction is positive; the falling on the initial rf power profile, which has been thought to be the rf power transferred to the beam for bunching buildup (negative gain effect), is probably resulting from numerical errors. Beam-wave interaction mechanism is analyzed by examining the evolution of beam bunching centers. Influences of various parameters on amplifier performance are examined, and transverse space-charge effect is analyzed. A symmetric excitation scheme for rf couplers is proposed, and rf field jumps on the common intersection line of vacuum, dielectric, and metal wall, which were found in rf simulations, are explained theoretically.