<p>Centrifugal spinning technology facilitates the upcycling of silicon-aluminum-based solid waste into inorganic fibers, enabling efficient element recovery. However, the fundamental kinetics governing liquid film disintegration on the spinning wheel surface have yet to be rigorously investigated. Utilizing the shadowgraph method coupled with high-speed imaging and digital image analysis, this study presents the first hydrodynamic characterization of the liquid film breakup process on a spinning wheel surface under spatially nonuniform gravitational fields. The results reveal that the liquid film disintegration can be categorized into three distinct regimes—ligament disintegration, liquid sheet disintegration, and direct splashing—based on the morphology of liquid clusters. At low rotational speeds, the radial component of gravity predominates, causing the liquid film to detach from the wheel surface as elongated filaments, indicative of the ligament disintegration mode. With increasing rotational velocity, centrifugal forces become dominant, leading to the detachment of the liquid film in the form of coherent liquid sheets. A further escalation in rotational speed culminates in the direct splashing regime. Furthermore, a dimensionless composite criterion was established through kinetic analysis to quantitatively delineate the transitions between these varied disintegration regimes. The transition criterion is given by: <i>f</i>_c = 318.76 × We^−1.35 × <i>q</i>^−0.037, where <i>f</i>_c &gt; 2 × 10^–3 indicates ligament disintegration, 1 × 10^–5 &lt; <i>f</i>_c &lt; 2 × 10^–3 corresponds to liquid sheet disintegration, and <i>f</i>_c &lt; 1 × 10^–5 corresponds to direct splashing.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>