Angular contact ball bearings, also known as radial thrust ball bearings, can accommodate a larger number of steel balls. Therefore, their radial load-carrying capacity is greater than that of ordinary ball bearings. They can simultaneously bear a large axial load or a pure axial load. Their allowable operating speed is similar to that of deep groove ball bearings, and they have stronger supporting rigidity. However, they require precise installation and are very sensitive to misalignment errors of the axis. Generally, they are not used to bear radial loads alone. When bearing radial loads, they will inevitably bring additional axial loads.

There are many variant types of this kind of bearing, which are widely applied. They are often made into three series with contact angles of 15°, 25°, and 40°. The larger the contact angle, the higher the axial load-carrying capacity. But at high speeds, it is advisable to use a smaller contact angle. Most of these bearings are used in pairs for short-span rigid double-supported shafts or precision main shafts. When in use, the clearance should be carefully adjusted. By changing the axial distance between the inner and outer rings of the bearing, the internal clearance of the bearing can be adjusted. At the same time, several sets of bearings can be installed in parallel and given a certain pre-interference amount, which can improve the rigidity of the bearing system.

A single bearing of this type can only bear an axial load in one direction and requires the configuration of other bearings to counteract its additional axial force. When installed in pairs, the additional axial forces cancel each other out, and it can bear axial loads in two directions. Moreover, it has strong axial limiting capabilities in both directions. When installed in pairs, generally two sets of bearings are used in two installation forms: with the wide end faces of their outer rings facing each other (back-to-back) or with the narrow end faces facing each other (face-to-face). Among them, the bearing system installed back-to-back has good rigidity.

To facilitate installation in pairs or groups, some bearing factories supply bearings in pairs, sets of three, sets of four, etc. The bearings of the same batch supplied in this way have good processing consistency. When in use, the load is more evenly distributed, and the additional axial forces cancel each other out more completely. There are two types of this kind of bearing: separable type and non-separable type. The separable type bearings are used in situations where the installation conditions are restricted and it is required that the outer ring or the inner ring can be removed from the whole set of bearings for separate installation. Since separable angular contact ball bearings are widely used in magnetos, they are also called magneto bearings. Among the varieties of this type of bearing with the locking groove on the inner ring, they can adapt to higher rotational speeds.