In order to study the deformation and failure mechanism of surrounding rock of roadway in inclined coal seam, the physical similarity model of right-angle trapezoidal roadway in inclined coal seam, in which the non-contact digital image correlation (DIC) technology and the stress sensor is employed to provide full-field displacement and stress measurements. The deformation control technology of the roadway surrounding rock was proposed and applied to engineering practice. The research results show that the stress and deformation failure of surrounding rock in low sidewall of roadway are greater than those in high sidewall, showing asymmetric characteristics, and the maximum stress concentration coefficients of roadway sidewall, roof and floor are 4.1, 3.4 and 2.8, respectively. A concept of roadway "cyclic failure" mechanism is proposed that is, the cyclic interaction of the two sidewalls, the sharp angles and roof aggravated the failure of roadway, resulting in the overall instability of roadway. The roadway sidewall is serious rib spalling, the roof is asymmetric "Beret" type caving arch failure, and the floor is slightly bulging. On this basis, the principle of roadway deformation control is revealed and asymmetric support design is adopted, and the deformation of roadway is controlled, which support scheme is effective.