Device and method for clamping a test piece

1 . A device for clamping a test piece, comprising:

an upper clamping rail and a lower clamping rail for horizontally clamping an upper end and a lower end of the test piece;

vertical left clamping edges and vertical right clamping edges for laterally supporting a right side and a left side of the test piece;

wherein

a segmented bearing is arranged on each of the upper clamping rail and the lower clamping rail, each segmented bearing comprising a plurality of pivotably movable bearing segments which can be individually pivoted out of a clamping plane;

and wherein

the bearing segments each comprise a bearing segment chuck.

2 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segments are detachably connected to the clamping rails and can be removed individually.

3 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having different thicknesses or spatially varying thicknesses and/or to perform alignment of the test piece relative to a pivot axis of the bearing segments.

4 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having a thickness of 1 mm or more.

5 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having a thickness of 1 mm or more.

6 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having a thickness of 20 mm or more.

7 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having a thickness of 100 mm or less.

8 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having a thickness of 60 mm or less.

9 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks are configured to receive test pieces having a thickness of 60 mm or less.

10 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segment chucks comprise clamping screws and clamping plates, with a pair of opposing clamping screws arranged in each bearing segment.

11 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein contact surfaces of the bearing segments, which are configured to contact a test piece edge, have a coating for reducing a coefficient of friction, wherein the coating includes polytetrafluorethylene, polyoxymethylene, or an alloy thereof.

12 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing segments are supported on the upper and the lower clamping rail by needle bearings, wherein at least the needle bearings for the bearing segments in the upper clamping rail comprise a bearing which supports more than half the bearing diameter.

13 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein two relocatable bearing blocks are arranged on each of the upper clamping rail and the lower clamping rail, wherein the bearing blocks receive journals of bearings of outermost bearing segments and/or wherein the clamping edges are connected to the bearing blocks at the top and the bottom.

14 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 1 , wherein the clamping edges are movably supported on the lower clamping rail by a groove-pin system.

15 . The device for clamping a test piece according to claim 14 , wherein the clamping edges are movably supported on lower bearing blocks.

16 . A system for buckling testing of a test piece, comprising:

a test bench;

an upper clamping rail and a lower clamping rail for horizontally clamping an upper end and a lower end of the test piece mounted on the test bench;

vertical left clamping edges and vertical right clamping edges for laterally supporting a right side and a left side of the test piece;

wherein

a segmented bearing is arranged on each of the upper clamping rail and the lower clamping rail, each segmented bearing comprising a plurality of pivotably movable bearing segments which can be individually pivoted out of a clamping plane;

and wherein

the bearing segments each comprise a bearing segment chuck.

17 . A method for clamping a test piece for a buckling test, comprising:

clamping a lower clamping rail to a lower machine chuck of a lower clamping head of a test bench;

clamping an upper clamping rail to an upper machine chuck of an upper clamping head of the test bench;

fastening bearing segments to the upper clamping rail and the lower clamping rail, wherein the bearing segments can be individually pivoted out of a clamping plane;

fastening rear lateral clamping edges to the upper clamping rail;

inserting the test piece and clamping the test piece in the bearing segments of the lower clamping rail by means of lower bearing segment chucks;

fastening front lateral clamping edges to the upper clamping rail such that the test piece is arranged between the front and the rear clamping edges; and

lowering the upper clamping head and inserting a groove-pin system for movably fastening the clamping edges to the lower clamping rail.

18 . The method for clamping a test piece according to claim 17 , further comprising:

aligning the test piece by adjusting the lower bearing segment chucks in the bearing segments of the lower clamping rail and/or by adjusting upper bearing segment chucks in the bearing segments of the upper clamping rail, wherein aligning the test piece sets an eccentricity of the test piece in relation to a lower bearing axis defined by the bearing segments of the lower clamping rail, and/or in relation to an upper bearing axis defined by the bearing segments of the upper clamping rail.

19 . The method for clamping a test piece according to claim 17 , further comprising:

screwing the upper clamping rail and the lower clamping rail to one another while the lower clamping rail is clamped to the lower machine chuck by means of alignment screws;

lowering the upper clamping head onto the upper clamping rail;

clamping the upper clamping rail to the upper machine chuck;

detaching the upper clamping rail and the lower clamping rail from one another by detaching the alignment screws; and

raising the upper clamping head together with the upper clamping rail.

20 . The method for clamping a test piece according to claim 17 , further comprising:

applying compressive stress to the test piece by lowering the upper clamping head until the test piece fails,

or

the test piece is excited by cyclical compressive stress.