In this paper, liquid disintegration by a spinning wheel was investigated experimentally. The mechanism of ligament formation on a spinning wheel was studied using photographs taken by a high-speed camera. Three different liquids with Newtonian properties were used at various flow rates and the wheel rotational speed was varied in a wide range. The atomization process was found to be significantly different from the spinning disc and cups atomization due to the highly non-uniform circumferential ligament distribution and the absence of the direct drop formation mode. Nevertheless, the dependence of ligament number and diameter on the input process parameters is similar as with other types of centrifugal atomizers due to the same underlying hydrodynamic instabilities. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.