The dramatic evolution of catalytic converters in the last thirty years was a result of a need worldwide to reduce pollution created by the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines. Environmental concerns have led American, Japanese and European Union (EU) legislation to pose continuously stricter emission limits for petrol engines in the last decades. The catalytic converter has become the most important means of exhaust treatment to achieve the desired emission limits. The international legislation has also created a need for a regular assessment of the efficiency of the catalytic converter in order to detect a deterioration of its conversion efficiency as soon as this deterioration takes place. The assessment of conversion efficiency of a catalytic converter can take place during normal driving of a vehicle (on-board diagnosis or OBD) or in a workshop by specialized technicians. The most important methods nowadays are the OBD methods. The evolution of methods concerned with OBD and non-OBD monitoring and diagnosing of efficiency of catalytic converters of internal combustion engines is described based on patents and published patent applications. Non-patent references are also used. The basic principles of modern catalytic converters are described in an extensive Introduction

The European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS) Technical Commitee on Fatigue of Engineering Materials and Structures (TC3) decided to compile a Special Technical Publication (ESIS STP) based on the 115 papers presented at the 6th International Conference on Biaxial/Multiaxial Fatigue and Fracture. The 25 papers included in the STP have been extended and revised by the authors. The conference was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 25-28 June 2001, and was chaired by Manual De Freitas, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon. The meeting, organised by the Instituto Superior Tecnico and sponsored by the Portuguese Minesterio da Cienca e da Tecnologia and by the European Structural Integrity Society, ...

Biomaterials science, the study of the application of materi-als to problems in biology and medicine, is a field characterized by medical needs, basic research, advanced technological devel-opment, ethical considerations, industrial involvement, andfederal regulation. It encompasses an unusually broad spectrum of ideas, sciences, and technologies, which contributes to its intellectual excitement. At the same time, it serves important humanitarian needs. This book is intended to provide an over- view of the theory and practice of biomaterials science.

PSCAD™ is a fast, accurate, and easy-to-use power system simulator for the design and verification of all types of power systems. For power quality studies, power electronic design, distributed generation, and transmission planning, PSCAD™ improves your power system performance and reliability. A product of 25 years of power systems simulation research, PSCAD™ is the visual design tool of choice at over 1,000 commercial, industrial, and research organizations worldwide

Electromagnetic-Field Simulation for High-Performance Electromechanical Design Maxwell® is the leading electromagnetic design software for the simulation and analysis of high-performance electromagnetic and electromechanical components common to automotive, military/aerospace, and industrial applications. Maxwell provides users a virtual laboratory on their desktop to study static, frequency-domain, and time-varying electromagnetic fields in complex structures.