With regard to question #4, yes sometimes in the translation of a model by FEATools it appears the in-plane and out-of-plane SIF values are switched. This done purposely since the translation breaks the tees into three separate elements. When this happens CAESAR II no longer knows the in-plane and out-of-plane directions for the fitting (since there is no longer a fitting). CAESAR II will therefore default to the in-plane and out-of-plane directions for a straight pipe based on the pipe's orientation. This is all explained in the attached white-paper from 2015.