Design and Evaluation of Chaos-Based Excitation Strategies for Brushless DC Motor Drives: A Multi-Domain Framework for Application-Specific Selection

This paper presents the design and multi-domain evaluation of three chaos-based excitation strategies for brushless DC (BLDC) motor drives implemented using Chua circuit-generated deterministic chaotic signals injected at three distinct control points: the PWM duty cycle, the commutation sequence, and the current feedback loop. A systematic design methodology is established for each injection architecture, including signal normalization, amplitude parameterization, and injection point characterization, evaluated across the electromagnetic, thermal, mechanical, and acoustic domains through MATLAB (R2024a) simulation and physical test stand validation. PWM injection produces controlled spectral dispersion with 5–7% speed reduction and a 10–15 dB SNR decrease, making it the recommended design choice for acoustic signature masking in stealth UAV applications. Commutation injection achieves severe system destabilization with speed reduction exceeding 56% and SNR losses greater than 30 dB, establishing it as a design tool for accelerated stress testing and fault emulation. Current feedback injection delivers a balanced excitation profile with 12–20% efficiency loss and 16–30% SNR reduction, making it suitable as a design method for online parameter identification and adaptive control development. This study establishes the first multi-domain comparative design framework for application-specific selection of chaos excitation strategies in BLDC drives, supported by nonparametric statistical validation and experimental acoustic confirmation, providing drive engineers with quantitative selection criteria across four physical domains.