Considering the nonlinear characteristic of tire’s grounding friction,a dynamic model of tire’s lateralvertical force coupling is established based on LuGre friction model.According to selfexcitation theory,polygonal wear of tire is found to be related to lateral vibration of tire tread and the polygonal number is equivalent to the ratio of the lateral vibration frequency of tire tread to the rotational frequency of tire.The ranges of speed and toein angle which can motivate selfexcited vibration are given through simulation.The results show that this model can interpret the formation mechanism of the polygonal wear,and provide a theoretic foundation to reduce or eliminate the tire’s selfexcited vibration.