The western region of China is rich in mineral resources. The vigorous development of mineral resources has exacerbated the environmental and safety problems in the region. One of the important links to solve this problem is to control the development laws and distribution characteristics of the overburdened cracks in the mining of this area. In this paper, the Xiashijie coal mine 3-2 coal seam and 4-2 coal seam are examples of repeated mining, and are examined as the background, through theoretical analysis to optimize the size of the coal pillars in the lower section, using the 3DEC numerical simulation experiment method and the rise of the cracks in the short-distance coal seam. Repeated mining monitoring and analysis of the development law are used to ascertain distribution characteristics of overburdened cracks caused by the repeated mining process of the working face. The results show that: (1) By establishing a mechanical model of the overlying strata structure under short-distance coal seam group mining, and carrying out the force analysis of the double section coal pillar under repeated mining, the reasonable size of a lower section coal pillar was determined to be 70 m. (2) As the development height of a fracture progresses with the working face, its expansion rate undergoes four obvious changes: fluctuations within a certain range, the expansion rate reaches the peak after the rock formation is concentrated and broken, the cyclical change gradually decreases, and the expansion rate is zero after complete mining. (3) The fracture zone height of 222 and 224 face under repeated mining in the 4-2 coal seam was 19.56–22.31 times and 22.38–24.54 times larger, respectively, and the post-mining fracture extension of the face with larger width and deeper burial under repeated mining was higher than that of the adjacent face. This study provides scientific guidance for the rational division of coal pillars and the solution of the problem of water conservation mining under repeated mining in the adjacent face of a short-distance coal seam.

The dynamic disasters caused by the failure of hard roof in the process of mining coal seriously affect the safe production in coal mines. Based on the W1123 mining coal working face of Kuangou coal mine, the physical similar material simulation experiment and acoustic emission (AE) monitoring method are used to study the failure law and AE characteristics of overburden in the process of coal mining. The stress evolution law is revealed through numerical simulation, the dangerous areas and rock burst hazard under the repeated mining with hard roof are studied combined with microseismic monitoring on site. The results show that the energy of W1123 working face released by the overburden damage under B4-1 solid coal is higher than that of the gob, and the peak value of the AE energy appears near the W1145 open-off cut. Through the statistics of the AE data, the large energy rate of AE event is defined, and the AE events with large energy rate appear in the scale of 82.4–231.2 cm within the model. This area is shown as a stress superposition area according to the numerical simulation. On the basis of comparing with the characteristics of energy distribution in the field, it is considered that the main control factors of rock burst in this area are hard roof of the working face and the stress concentration caused by the repeated mining. It provides a scientific guidance for the prevention and control measures of rock burst in this type of mining condition.

In the inclination direction, the fracture law of a longwall face roof is very important for roadway control. Based on the W1123 working face mining of Kuangou coal mine, the roof structure, stress and energy characteristics of W1123 were studied by using mechanical analysis, model testing and engineering practice. The results show that when the width of W1123 is less than 162 m, the roof forms a rock beam structure in the inclined direction, the floor pressure is lower, the energy and frequency of microseismic (MS) events are at a low level, and the stability of the section coal pillar is better. When the width of W1123 increases to 172 m, the roof breaks along the inclined direction, forming a double-hinged structure, the floor pressure is increased, and the frequency and energy of MS events also increases. The roof gathers elastic energy release, and combined with the MS energy release speed it can be considered that the stability of the section coal pillar is better. As the width of W1123 increases to 184 m, the roof in the inclined direction breaks again, forming a multi-hinged stress arch structure, and the floor pressure increases again. MS high-energy events occur frequently, and are not conducive to the stability of the section coal pillar. Finally, through engineering practice we verified the stability of the section coal pillar when the width of W1123 was 172 m, which provides a basis for determining the width of the working face and section coal pillar under similar conditions.