Tanveer,
I fully agree with your views.The objective of the code is to keep things simple and as such does not delve into the complications of such situations.Such situations have to be analysed on a case by case basis . You can find some interesting discussions in PAUL VOORHAR'S website.
However regarding the method of combination we can follow what is prescribed in ASME Sec VIII as
Primary + secondary stress intensity, involving both membrane and bending stresses <=3.0 average allowable stress intensity
Anindya Bhattacharya
Stress Analyst
Bechtel Corporation
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Anindya Bhattacharya