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Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) composite material has good insulation and stain resistance, and can be efficiently used in an electric transmission tower. Based on static tension and compression research, full-scale tests for GFRP were carried out on composite steel casing joints. The fatigue life and the failure mode of this kind of connection were analysed in different stress amplitude and loading conditions. The whole process of development of cracks at the adhesive joint was revealed under constant amplitude cyclic loading. Also, the load-displacement curves and the load-strain curves were received and analysed. The results showed that when the end of the connection using epoxy resin adhesives as bonding materials between the composite bar and the steel sleeve were pulled out, there was a typical brittle failure. Additionally, the bearing capacity only decreased by 6.8% after 2 million cycles under the tension-compression conditions, indicating that the adhesive joints had excellent shock absorption and anti-fatigue performance. Finally, some suggestions were proposed to provide a basis for engineering applications and theoretical analysis of complex tower structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]