Exploding Glass?

[Aiten]

Please help me find an explanation to this mystery.

I went for a gentle drive on Sunday. I come back, and tuck the car up in the garage (driver and passenger windows are down). Said garage is locked up securely (and building is alarmed when no one is in). I open the garage this evening to find glass everywhere from the driver's side window. Now considering the glass was inside the door frame, how the hell is it now all over the interior of the car/garage?
No one could have got in. Passenger door and all other glass is fine.


Now, what could have caused this?

[ohtari]

Hate to be the one to say it, but toughened glass is a bh! Nobody "broke" your window, it shattered. Of it's own accord. The stress on the glass is always high, but add a change in temperature and different stress scenario, and kablamo. Glass everywhere.

It may be luck, it may have been leaving the window down that caused the break, you'll likely never know. Every sheet of glass is different, so you will probably never encounter this again.

Unlucky chap

[Aiten]

You'll be pleased to hear that the passenger side window is now up as soon as I read your explanation.

Thank you for shedding light on the mystery.

[AnotherClarkey]

Yep, a lot of energy stored in toughened glass just waiting to be released. Thick based whiskey tumblers have so much they can spontaneously pof into a small pile of powder.

[Deano_BMW]

had a similar thing happen on my 5 series while it was parked up.

Wouldnt have minded so much but it was double glazed so getting the glass was both expensive and time consuming. It also had its original tints from 1997 which were very hard to replicate.

[ajb85]

Christ, this is pretty shocking . never known or experienced anything like it!

[Rob Crutch]

Whilst still at primary school (about 25 years ago) I was collected one afternoon by a friend's Mum in their Cortina, it was a hot summer day. As we were walking across the park towards the car there was a noise and the windscreed shattered.

[ALawson]

Toughened glass can also get inclusions in it, which can expand at a different rate to the glass. Thus resulted in stresses building up.