While both angular contact ball bearings and deep groove ball bearings are designed to facilitate rotation, their fundamental difference lies in their load-carrying capabilities and structural design.
Deep groove ball bearings are the most common type, recognized for their versatility. They primarily excel at handling radial loads (perpendicular to the shaft) but can also accommodate moderate axial loads (parallel to the shaft) in both directions. Their simple design, with deep, uninterrupted raceways, allows for high speeds and smooth operation.
In contrast, angular contact ball bearings are specifically engineered to handle combined radial and axial loads, particularly high axial loads. Their unique design features a "contact angle" between the balls and raceways, which allows them to effectively support axial forces in one direction. For applications requiring two-way axial load support or enhanced rigidity, angular contact ball bearings are often used in "paired" configurations. This makes them ideal for high-precision, high-speed applications where significant axial thrust is present, such as machine tool spindles.