ABSTRACT
Modelling by the method of equivalent materials is based on the substitution of natural rocks by such artificial materials whose physical and mechanical properties have specific correlations with the corresponding properties of the natural rocks. Modelling through the method of equivalent materials forms an indispensable part of the various techniques used in the investigations of mining geo-mechanics. Modelling of any physical phenomenon is based on the theory of similarity. The diversity of states of a rock mass and the variety of geomechanical processes occurring in it give rise to significant variations in the scale of time even for a single process during various stages of its development. Geomechanical processes occurring during extraction of minerals and construction of various structures in a rock massif may be arbitrarily divided into several groups distinguished from each other in the degree of complexity of the mechanical systems involved in these processes.
