Abstract: The plastic post-buckling of a simply supported column with a solid rectangularcross-section is analysed by a new approach. High order terms in the asymptotic post-buckling expansions are carried out. In some aspects, the method proposed in thispaper is similar io Hutchinson’s. However, the computation is simple since theintroduction is avoided of stretched coordinates. The method can be used to analyseinitial post-bifurcation of plates and shells in the plastic range.