Mining‐induced coal seam extraction causes deformation and fracturing of the overburden, leading to the development of fractures, which pose significant threats to mine safety, surface structures, and natural ecosystems. To address the challenge of quantitatively characterizing overburden fractures caused by coal seam mining, this study, taking the 12,401 working face of the Shendong Shangwan Mine as the research background, conducted similar material simulation experiments. By integrating image recognition technology with fractal theory, the box‐counting dimension method was employed to quantitatively characterize the development features of fractures, and the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of overburden fractures were systematically analyzed through differential analysis of fractal dimensions. The results indicate that during the stage of extremely insufficient mining, fractures primarily expanded vertically, and their development and closure processes were relatively slow. In the stage of insufficient mining, newly formed fractures were distributed on the advancing side of the working face and the top of the overburden failure zone, exhibiting a spatial distribution approximately resembling a “乁” shape, with the fracture area initially increasing and then decreasing. During the stage of sufficient mining, fractures extended to the surface, and newly formed fractures displayed a delayed distribution on the advancing side of the mining space, approximately forming a “\” pattern, while the fracture area showed a fluctuating but generally stable variation. This study reveals the morphological characteristics and dynamic evolution patterns of fractures at different mining stages, providing theoretical support for optimizing mining processes and developing more effective rock mass control strategies.
Zhu et al. (2026) studied this question.