The end-plate structure design of air-cooled open-cathode low temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (AO-LTPEMFC) has significant effects on the performance and mass control of stack. In this work, different screws distribution, clamping forces on end- plate and thicknesses of end-plate were investigated by evaluating the indentation and cell performance in experiments, the carbon paper was used to qualitative analysis the contact pressure distribution over membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Because the materials of end-plate have the different properties, which subject to a different deformation, an optimal compression ratio which is about 75% was obtained on the GDL as a function of the clamping force and thickness of end-plate. After that, an optimal end-plate structure was designed and verified to be a function of the mechanical properties of materials. On the whole, the thinner the end-plate, the greater the torque moment, and the value linearly prevents correlating the density of the material. The results reveal that optimizing parameters leads to design end-plate with proper performance. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.