Dear Dave,

Thanks for your explanation.

Yes I agree with you. If we are using rigorous analyses like FE-SIF again no need to adjust Z value.

But Richard Said “If you don't specify a tee type, CAESAR II doesn't really know in-plane versus out-of-plane. If CAESAR II assumes that in-plane is "local x axis" cross global "Y". So "yes" you can obtain different results (depending on the orientation of the tee) based on whether or not you specify a "tee”.

Now, I don’t want to adjust Z value for Branch connection so I didn’t define TEE type. In this situation how CAESAR-II knows in-plane versus out-of-plane?

Can you please explain what is the relation between “Defining TEE type & for taking In-plane and Out-plane SIF by CAESAR-II”.

Please Correct If I am wrong.