• Dense drilling provides a non-explosive alternative to blasting for roof cutting and pressure relief, reducing surrounding rock damage in weak roof roadways.
• The rock weakening effect is directly correlated with the drilling density coefficient, with higher densities yielding more pronounced weakening.
• Dense drilling amplifies tensile stress in the goaf side roof, facilitating controlled roof caving and stress redistribution.
• Field implementation of RCPRDD effectively reduced coal stress and controlled roadway deformation, validating its feasibility for similar mining conditions.