Polymer bead foaming technology represents a breakthrough in the production of low density plastic foamed components that have a complex geometrical structure and has helped to expand the market for plastic foams by broadening their applications. In this research, the unique microstructure of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) consisting of phase-separated hard segment [HS) domains dispersed in the soft segment (SS) matrix has been utilized to develop expanded TPU (E-TPU) bead foam with microcellular morphologies and also to create inter-bead sintering into three dimensional products using steam-chest molding machine. The phase-separation and crystallization behavior of the HS chains in the TPU microstructure was systematically studied in the presence of dissolved gases and also by changing the microstructure of TPU by melt-processing and addition of nano-/micro-sized additives. It was observed that the presence of gas improved the phase separation (i.e. crystallization) of HSs and increased the overall crystallinity of the TPU. It was also shown that by utilizing the HS crystalline domains, the overall foaming behavior of TPU (i.e. cell nucleation and expansion ratio) can be significantly improved. Moreover, the HS crystalline domains can be effective for both sintering of the beads as well strengthening the individual beads to improve the property of the moulded part. It was also observed that unlike other polymer bead foaming technologies, the E-TPU bead foaming sintering does not require formation of double melting-peak. The original broad melting peak existing in the TPU microstructure due to the wide size distribution of HS crystallites can be effectively utilized for the purpose of sintering as well as maintenance of the overall dimensional stability of the moulded part.