John L. - Your personal example is encouragement to persevere in learning the science and reporting the conclusions openly. My interest is not fear in delivering unwelcomed results as much as wanting to give the client the best answer the science and tested judgement can provide.

Cpt. Kenny - "Failures occur for many reasons, not all of them accountable in the design analysis." Yes, CIWH events are off topic, and even though keenly studied in the nuclear industry and by Wanye Kirchner in industrial/district heating realm, represent the burning train issues.

SLH - And I'll add: Just because it hasn't broken doesn't mean it meets code AND WILL REMAIN UNBROKEN.

Would there be any interest left in answering my question regarding Flexibility Factors:

So, how can I learn more about how the Flexibility Factor, k, factors into all of this? I don’t see any code equations using k, so is it used in the linear elastic beam theory equations? I didn’t see Rodabaugh use it in WRC 329, though he discusses it. Why does the code give the values but not explicitly use it … did I miss where it is used?