Methods of manufacturing articles utilizing foam particles

A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, comprising:

• affixing an upper to a sole structure, wherein the sole structure comprises a cushioning element including a structure formed of a plurality of affixed foam particles,
• wherein each individual foam particle of the plurality of affixed foam particles is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer material, and includes one or more binding regions on an outer surface of the individual foam particle affixing the individual foam particle to one or more adjacent foam particles,
• the one or more adjacent foam particles comprise the thermoplastic elastomer material,
• the binding regions include a portion of binding material from the individual foam particle, a portion of binding material from at least one of the one or more adjacent foam particles, a portion of the thermoplastic elastomer material from the individual foam particle intermingled with a portion of the thermoplastic elastomer material from at least one of the one or more adjacent foam particles, or any combination thereof,
• the structure formed of the plurality of affixed foam particles includes a plurality of gaps between particles separating individual foam particles from one or more adjacent foam particles to which it is affixed, with the gaps occupying at least 10 percent of a total volume of the structure
• wherein, prior to affixing, at least 20 percent of the plurality of affixed foam particles are spheroid or ellipsoid in shape and have a number average particle size of about 0.3 millimeters to about 10 millimeters in a longest dimension, and at least 20 percent of the spheroid or ellipsoid foam particles in the structure retain a substantially spheroid or ellipsoid shape.