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Abstract Ceramic-metal hybrid structures have attracted significant attentions as protection structures because of their high anti-penetration performance. In the present study, a ceramic-metal hybrid structure was constructed with a TC4 frame and ceramic prisms, and its anti-penetration performance and mechanism against a vertical steel projectile were investigated experimentally and numerically. The hybrid structure exhibited much higher penetration resistance than the TC4 monolithic plate of equal areal density. It was found that the high anti-penetration performance was mainly attributed to the frame in the structure, which confined the ceramic prisms and effectively improved their penetration resistance. Additional performance improvement was found to derive from the adhesive that bound the ceramic prisms with the frame. The TC4 frame and adhesive prolonged the dwell time of the projectile on the ceramic prisms and significantly dissipated the projectile kinetic energy. In addition, although the hybrid structure in this investigation was heterogeneous, its anti-penetration performance was affected less by the impact position than those of conventional hybrid structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]