SUMMARYAn asymptotic method directly derived from Koiter's theory and suitable for the solution of elastic buckling problems and its natural adaptation to a numerical solution by means of a finite element technique are presented here. The order of the extrapolation of the equilibrium equations has been intentionally kept very low because attention has been entirely devoted to all those features (theoretical definitions, eigenproblem numerical techniques, suitable FEM implementation) which make such an approach competitive with respect to the classic step-by-step methods. For plane frames and 3D pin-jointed trusses, the performances of the algorithm (numerical accuracy and computational cost) are compared with those of Riks' arc-length method.