<p>The load-bearing capacity of crack granular directly affected the deformation and movement of the overburden strata and the mining gob under the caving mining method, which severely threatened the mining activities and surface subsidence. This paper studied the load-bearing capacity of crack granular in the goaf, considering the size distribution and the accumulation of broken rocks. A three-dimensional physical setup was established to research the energy evolution and deformation characteristics of crack granular during the entire loading process. Results showed that the stress–strain and AE energy cumulative were closely associated with three deformation phases under different size distributions of the crack granular: the voids compaction phase, the compressive crushing phase, and the stable compaction phase. More strain and cumulative AE energy of crack granular were generated by a larger distribution of broken rocks and greater differences in the size distribution of caved ore. Under the accumulation of broken rock, the failure process of crack granular could be divided into two phases: the voids compaction phase and the compaction crushing phase. Meanwhile, the AE energy cumulative and strain produced by the accumulation of broken rocks were smaller under the same compression. Based on the dissipative structure theory, the energy migration models were built to reveal the deformation mechanism of crack granular under the caving mining method. The results of this study could provide theoretical support for revealing the deformation and movement mechanism of the goaf under the caving mining method.&#xa0;</p>