The shield pressure cannot always be used to represent the upper load of longwall panels, since its value is steady or even decreases by the yielding action. However, the leg pressure increment of the shield (LPIS) at the initial stage is not influenced by yielding and could therefore be an important factor to judge the state of overlying loads. In this study, a mechanical model is established to analyze the relationship between the overlying loads of the main roof and LPIS after cutting. There

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... is a linear positive correlation between leg pressure increment and overlying loads and a second-order relationship between leg pressure increment and length of main roof cantilever in the proposed model. Therefore, it can be used to determine the magnitude of roof weighting strength in different periods as well as the length of the main roof cantilever in a period. Finally, the mine pressure difference between the period of fully mechanized mining and the period of fully mechanized caving mining in the MinDong-1 coal mine serves to verify the rationality of the proposed model.