Device for testing test pieces bending in an ambient cryogenic environment

A device for low temperature bend-testing of an elongated test piece between its ends, and comprising:

• a. a support structure comprising an arch portion and at least one projection, said arch portion comprising:
• (i) lower supports for supporting the ends of said test piece, and (ii) a middle portion;
• b. a base;
• c. a tank secured to said base for containing a volume of a low temperature liquid;
• d. a pin slidably mounted in said support structure and displaceable in a direction perpendicular to a test piece supported by said supports, said pin including a shoulder portion which extends under said middle portion of said arch portion;
• and,
• e. at least one stanchion comprised in said base and extending beneath the at least one projection along said perpendicular direction, said support structure including said pin being movable between (i) an idle position in which said support structure and said pin are supported above the liquid by said shoulder portion, in contact with said arch, and said pin is positioned above the test piece, and (ii) a test position in which said at least one projection rests upon said at least one stanchion, said test piece is immersed within said liquid, said shoulder is separated from said arch, and an extremity of said pin presses said test piece between said ends thereof.