## 1 Introduction  
Each year in China, tens of thousands of kilometers of new coal mine roadways are excavated [1]. The stable control of the surrounding rock in these roadways is directly related to the safe production and socioeconomic benefits of mines. Approximately 60% of discovered coal resources are located at depths of 800 m [2]. As fully mechanized mining methods continue to improve and mining intensity increases, shallow-buried resources are becoming increasingly depleted. As a result, deep coal mining has been increasingly adopted in many eastern mining areas. However, the failure mechanisms of deep soft rock roadways are different from those of shallow ones; and the deep rock mass also significantly differs from the shallow one in structure and mechanical property. Compared to shallow-buried coals (rocks), deep-buried ones are affected by high seepage pressure, high in situ stress, large geothermal gradients, and intense mining disturbance in a complex coupled environment, in which the surrounding rock presentsmultiple nonlinear mechanical properties concerning soft rocks, such as high ground pressure, large-scale deformation, and difficulties supporting [3; 4; 5]. Additionally, there are a series of engineering responses in roadways, including obvious mine pressure, severe surrounding rock deformation, and significant rheological effects [6; 7; 8]. As the rock stress keeps rising, the rock mass becomes less stable under the influence of geologic structures. In this case, the surrounding rock in deep roadways tends to deform or even collapse under external disturbance. According to statistics, more than 30% of annually excavated roadways are deep soft rock ones that are restored at a rate of 70% [9; 10], which seriously affects mining production and safety. Therefore, people have paid more attention to the stable control of these roadways [11; 12]. The damage mechanism and control technology of soft rock roadways has been extensively studied, and in this process, a wealth of theoretical and practical experience is accumulated. In respect of failure mechanisms, [PERSON] [13; 14] systematically studied the characteristics of surrounding rock deformation in high-stress soft rock roadways based on elastic-plastic yield criterion, theoretical mechanics, engineering geology, and other classical theories and analyzed the cause of deformation, disaster evolution rules, and control techniques, which provided guidance for the support design of soft rocks. [PERSON] [15] analyzed the failure mechanisms of the surrounding rock in deep soft rock roadways using UDEC software and proposed that destabilization was mainly caused by high horizontal stress. [PERSON] [16] used RFPA software to simulate the process of surrounding rock failure in swelling rock tunnels under high-humidity conditions. [PERSON] [17] discussed the buckling deformation characteristics, damage evolution rules, and dynamic response mechanisms of the weak surrounding rock in deep tunnels under unloading disturbance by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. [PERSON] [18] analyzed the distribution and evolution characteristics of plastic damage zones in the surrounding rock of deep loop roadways with unequal pressure under high stress. [PERSON] [19] researched the geotechnical characteristics of high-stress soft rock roadways using a viscoelastic rheological model and concluded that the surrounding rock featured the rheological properties of attenuated and stabilized deformation. [PERSON] [20] studied the local stress field of deep roadways and revealed their asymmetrical deformation failure mechanisms. [PERSON] et al. [21] explored the deformation failure characteristics of deep tunnels in compound strata. [PERSON] [22] researched the mechanical properties and spatial-temporal effects of deformation during the construction of deep soft rock tunnels by comparing the data obtained from field measurements and numerical simulations. [PERSON] et al.