Effect of surface polishing on the ductility of pure chromium tested in several environments

The environmental effect on the ductility of chromium was investigated by using two surface polishing methods. It was observed that the ductility of mechanically polished chromium was improved remarkably in water. However, the improvement was not observed for the electropolished chromium, particularly in water. For the respective test in water, there was a tendency that the ductility showed slight decrease as the loading rate decreased. This tendency of loading rate dependence of the ductility in moist environment is similar to the characteristic of embrittlement, as is found in high-strength steels and intermetallic compounds. The ductility of chromium is influenced by the interaction between surface states and test environments.