Contact angle is the
angle between a plane perpendicular to the bearing axis and a
line joining the two contact points between the ball and the
inner and outer raceways. The initial contact angle ao is defined as the contact
angle when the bearing is subjected to a minimal axial load to
remove the looseness resulting from radial play. The higher
the radial play the higher ao. Further axial load will
increase the contact angle see section on
preload.
