In this study, the methodology for determination of shoulder height in the internal shape design of ball bearing using 3D contact analysis is proposed. The static analysis of a ball bearing was performed to calculate the distribution of applied contact load and angles among the rolling elements. From each rolling element loads and the contact geometry between ball and inner/outer raceway, 3D contact analyses using influence function are conducted. These methodology is applied to HDD ball bearing. A critical axial load and a critical shoulder height which are not affected by edge are calculated. The proposed methodology may be applied to other rolling element bearing for the purpose of reducing the material cost and improving the efficiency of the bearing design process.