The hard roof leads to large deformation or failure of the entry and poses risks to mining safety. Shaped charge blasting is applied to directionally fracture the hard roof and release mining pressure in this paper. The stress condition around the blasting borehole required to induce fracture propagation is calculated by theoretical calculation and numerical simulation. Evolution of blasting‐induced fractures between adjacent boreholes, main fracture in the shaped charge jet direction and secondary fractures in other directions is analyzed. The reliability of Livemore software of explicit dynamics analysis code (LS‐DYNA) in simulating shaped charge blasting is validated by experimental results. A numerical model is established to reveal the formation processes of the shaped charge jet, disclose the evolution of the equivalent stress and understand the development of the main fractures and secondary fractures between adjacent boreholes. The failure type of the rock mass and the fracture development zone are identified. The results indicate that blasting‐induced fractures mainly initiate and propagate in the shaped charge jet direction between adjacent boreholes. Shaped charge blasting leads to the directional propagation of fractures. The field monitoring results show that shaped charge blasting is able to realize the directional propagation of blasting‐induced fractures and release mining pressure.
