The effect of using directional hydraulic fracturing technology to control the hard roof increases with the length of a pre-cut slot by hydraulic cutting. To further study the hydraulic cutting effect after adding abrasive, the basic law of abrasive hydraulic cutting for coal-rock mass was studied using the experimental system of high pressure abrasive hydraulic cutting. The effects of pumping pressure, cutting time, abrasive concentration and lithology on the abrasive hydraulic cutting effect were analyzed. The experimental results show that the cutting depth increases linearly with the pumping pressure. With the extension of the cutting time, the cutting depth increases, but after the effective cutting time, T, the cutting depth keeps constant. With specific cutting parameters, the closer the abrasive concentration to 3.4%, the closer the cutting depth to the limit depth. With different influencing factors of the same material, the width of the cutting is unchanged. The cutting effect ( cutting depth and width ) decreases with the increase of rock strength and structure compactness. The study results provide bases for optimizing the design of field abrasive hydraulic cutting construction parameters. © 2020, Editorial Office of Journal of Mining and Strata Control Engineering. All right reserved.