Properties of expanded graphite polystyrene damaged by the impact of solar radiation

The article presents research aimed at determining changes in some physical properties of expanded polystyrene with the addition of graphite exposed to the impact of solar radiation. For this purpose, the expanded polystyrene with the addition of graphite (gray) was exposed to the impact of the artificial sun with the intensity of 950 W/m² and 1104 W/m². The tests involved three samples, i.e. a reference sample (not exposed to solar radiation) and two samples exposed to different intensity of solar radiation. It turned out that with the direct exposure to sunlight, gray polystyrene undergoes damage. The damage affects its physical properties. The tested properties comprised absorption, compressive strain and tensile strength. The obtained results were not obvious. It turned out that with the exposure to higher intensity of artificial sun radiation, tensile strength improved and, unfortunately, the absorption of the material increased. Additionally, the material exposed to higher intensity of solar radiation had higher compressive strength than the material exposed to the lower intensity of solar radiation.