Angular contact ball bearings have raceways on the inner and outer rings, and the inner and outer rings can be relatively displaced along the bearing axis. This type of bearing is particularly suitable for bearing compound loads, that is, loads acting both radially and axially.

The axial load-bearing capacity of angular contact ball bearings increases with the contact angle α. The contact angle is the angle between the line of contact points between the ball and raceway in the radial plane and the vertical line of the bearing axis.